


When It Reigns, It Storms

by Turchinorain



Series: Twists of Time [4]
Category: Time Warp Trio (Cartoon)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Fantasy, France - Freeform, French Revolution, Friendship, Reign of Terror, Time Travel, historical fiction - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2020-07-08 05:28:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 38,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19864258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Turchinorain/pseuds/Turchinorain
Summary: Just when Joe is still getting a handle on his magic, he has visions of Jodie trapped in France in the midst of the French Revolution during the Reign of Terror. With his friends tagging along, and also the snobbish daughter of a certain lord of magic, he must try and rescue his great-granddaughter before it's too late. But since when have things ever been easy for the trio even with magic?





	1. Chapter 1

Deep breath in. Deep breath out. 

Deep breath in. Deep breath out. 

Focus. 

Concentrate. 

Focus. 

Concentrate. 

Joe can feel his eyes starting to throb but he keeps his focus and keeps breathing. The ball levitates up and down, glowing a soft green and following the movements of his hand. The first two few times he tried this he had gotten so excited that he lost his focus and the ball fell like a dead weight. The third through fifth time he tried this the ball went shooting across the room like a missile. But training with his uncle and Fina, Joe’s finally getting the hang of using his magic. Real magic. 

Right now, he’s sitting on the floor in front of the table practicing controlling his inner magic. Fina sits on the couch behind him and Uncle Joe supervises. 

“Very good, nephew,” Uncle Joe praises him, sounding just as excited as Joe feels, “You’re getting quite the handle on your _intrinsecus_ _maicus_ _.”_

Joe starts to grin but it turns into a grimace as another spike of pain goes through his head. But then cool fingers land on his temple and the pain disappears. 

“Thanks, Fina.” 

“You’re pushing yourself again,” She chides him softly. 

“How else am I supposed to get good at this? It’s like Fred says, ‘No pain, no gain’.” 

“Hmph, I wouldn’t put too much stock in anything Fred says.” 

Joe laughs causing his magic to flare out and the ball shoots off across the room. It crashes into a shelf, knocking over a box and freeing about half a dozen weird-looking vampire rabbits with bat wings that go flying around the room. Even Fina struggles to hold back giggles as Uncle Joe jumps around the room trying to use his hat to catch the flying creatures. 

“Ok-- I think—that's enough—for—today,” He pants jumping around the room. 

“Oh, okay,” Joe sighs and relaxes, “I still think I could have gone longer though.” 

Fina continues rubbing his temples but the warm, cooling effect of her healing stops, “You’ll get there. Just be patient.” 

He knows she’s right, but he can’t help but pout a little. He leans back a little more resting his arms on Fina’s knees. 

“How long will it take before I have complete control of my magic?” 

“You’ll get there when you get there.” 

Joe smirks and tilts his head back to look at her, “You sound like my mom.” 

“Do not!” Fina flushes and nudges his head forward again, “You’re just impatient.” 

Her fingers drop from his temples to his shoulders and start lightly massaging. Joe feels muscles relax that he didn’t even know were tense. It makes sense though. Fina and Uncle Joe did warn him that using magic could affect his entire body, not just his head. 

Uncle Joe finally finishes wrangling all the flying bunny bats into his hat and turns to look at them. A weird smile comes over his face. 

“I see you two have gotten... used to each other,” he says with a wink to Joe. 

“Yeah, I guess you can say that.” He doesn’t understand the weird look or the wink but brushes it off as typical Uncle Joe weirdness. “Hey Fina, are you ready to go? Mom wants us back before dinner.” 

Fina nods and gets off the couch to start gathering their things. Joe stands up a little more reluctantly. He’s not really ready to go home yet, he’d love to keep practicing, but the truth is he’s feeling a little drained and has had something on his mind all day. He hears a small grunt and sees Fina by the door struggling to carry both of their bags. Chuckling a little, he goes over to help her. 

“I’ll see you in a few days, nephew,” Uncle Joe says, “I have some, um, business to take care of so I’ll be out of town for a few days. Don’t forget to keep practicing your magic.” 

“Okay, Uncle Joe.” 

“And don’t forget to keep reading The Book.” 

Joe grimaces, “I will but... it’s so boring. So far I’m getting nothing but ordinary history stuff. I thought The Book had spells and stuff too. Or at least it used to.” 

“The Book can operate randomly sometimes. You have to learn how to connect with it. I’ll be happy to help you.” Fina offers. 

“Thanks. Later, Uncle Joe.” 

They leave his apartment and start walking to the bus stop. The weather is so warm that it’s hard to believe that summer vacation was still a few weeks away. Since it’s just the two of them, Fina walks close beside him instead of behind him. Joe doesn’t mind though, it’s actually really nice. 

“So, what did you mean by me connecting with The Book?” He asks curiously, “Do you mean it can know what I’m thinking?” 

“Hmmm, not necessarily,” Fina explains, “But it is alive in a way. It can read your intentions. If you’re looking for a specific historical time period, it becomes a history book. If you need to look up a time spell, it becomes a spellbook. It all depends on what you need.” 

“Pfft, I need it to not disappear on me when I warp.” 

“Haha, yeah I’ve known it to be... petulant.” 

“So how do I get it to be less petulant and more useful?” 

“Um... in short, become the Warp Wizard.” 

Joe rolls his eyes, “Gee thanks, Fina. That totally clears everything up.” 

“The Book is one of the most powerful objects in the universe but only the Warp Wizard can unlock its full potential. And the Warp Wizard has all the power of time and space in their hands, but The Book allows them to harness that power.” 

“Huh, I guess that makes sense. But what about you? Are you any good with The Book?” 

Fina flashes him a small smile, “I wouldn’t be a good assistant if I wasn’t.” 

“Then maybe I should just take you with me on warps instead of Fred and Sam.” 

“Actually...” 

“Fina... I was kidding.” 

“Oh.” 

Fina’s face falls into a small pout making Joe laugh. They manage to reach the bus stop just as their bus loads the last few passengers waiting to get on. Fina flashes her pass to the driver and from behind her, Joe notices that the bus is pretty full. He quickly nudges Fina into one of the last seats before she can force him to sit there instead. She still takes the assistant thing a little too seriously sometimes outside of his magic lessons. 

She rolls her eyes at his gesture, “I told you before that isn’t necessary.” 

“And I told you before that I don’t mind,” Joe stands next to her and grabs one of the bus’s poles to keep himself steady. “Besides, you’d probably get knocked around like a pinball if you weren’t sitting down.” 

“I’m not that small!” 

Joe laughs and even Fina good-naturedly shakes her head. They spend the rest of the bus ride relatively quiet. Normally Joe would do most of the talking anyway but today he’s a little more distracted. He hadn’t restarted his lessons all that long ago, but he had still been hoping that he would have advanced a little further by now. He isn’t a kid anymore. Little tricks like making a ball float just weren’t going to cut it. Fina keeps telling him to be patient and just keep reading The Book, but it was honestly getting a little boring. 

Speaking of which, he glances down at his assistant and smiles a little. Boring or not, he has to admit that he wouldn’t have even gotten this far without Fina. She was patient, easy to talk to, and whenever Uncle Joe went off on rambling tangents during lessons, she always manages to get them back on track. He should figure out a way to thank her or something. 

The bus eventually pulls up to their stop and they walk the rest of the way to Joe’s house. When they get in Anna’s cat happily rubs against his leg and cautiously approaches Fina who shoos her away with a wave of her hand. 

“You still don’t like Cleo?” Joe asks, “She’s trying to make friends with you.” 

“I’m not much of a cat person,” Fina frowns, “Or an animal person really. Too messy. Oh! Just like your friend-” 

“Stop,” Joe cuts her off with a laugh, “You know, you are totally different when it’s just the two of us.” 

He stops by the kitchen to grab them some snacks before heading upstairs with Fina following. A regular routine now, they go to his room to work on their homework. He immediately tosses his bag to the floor; she immediately scoops it up and takes it to his desk to start unpacking it. Joe meanwhile, sits on his bed and pulls a letter out of his dresser. He’s read it a hundred times already, practically has it memorized, but he still kept it. He just hadn’t been able to force himself to pull the trigger. 

“Hey, can I ask you something else?” 

“Certainly.” 

“What can you tell me about the Beauchenes?” 

Fina stops for a minute, keeping her back to him, before answering, “Why do you want to know? Is it because of that letter?” 

“Y-yeah,” Joe looks up at her in surprise, “How did you know about the letter?” 

“Because you stare at it several times a day.” 

“Oh, right. So... can you tell me anything about them?” 

“There isn’t that much to them actually,” Fina goes back to organizing his stuff, “They’re rich, they’re powerful, they’re elite. So elite that it takes weeks, sometimes months to make an appointment just to speak to one of them.” 

“Well, this letter says I impressed Lord Beauchene and that his daughter will get in contact with me. But I haven’t heard anything from anyone yet.” 

“Unfortunately, I’m not surprised. I told you they were elite.” 

“So I was thinking about calling them instead. There is a number at the bottom of the letter.” 

“Really?” Fina looks up in mild surprise, “Then why haven’t you?” 

“I don’t know,” Joe sighs and stretches out on his bed, “I guess I just wanted to wait until I had a better handle on my magic. You know, so I don’t look like a total idiot.” 

“Do you mean so you won’t look like an idiot to her?” 

“Pfft, no,” Joe can feel himself flush though, “I don’t care about impressing her. Well, not really. I mean, I do but only because of her family. I mean, if they’re really as important as you say they are. I bet that this isn’t even really her number. It’ll probably just go to some business line or Jasper’s phone or something. I might as well call now and leave a message because I doubt someone will even answer.” 

As he rambles, more to himself than to her at this point, he pulls out his phone and starts dialing the number at the bottom of the letter. Honestly, it makes sense. Joleena was a total snob and even when he saved her life, she was completely ungrateful. For all he knows, her dad probably made her write the letter and it’ll go straight to- 

“ _Bonjour,_ _this is_ _Joleena_ _._ ” 

“Uh...” Joe’s mind suddenly goes blank and he hangs up the phone in a panic, “Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap...” 

“What?” Fina gets up and goes over to him. “What’s wrong?” 

“I hung up on her!” Joe stares at his phone in disbelief, “I hung up on Joleena!” 

“Why one earth would you do that?” 

“I didn’t know she would pick up!” Joe facepalms with his phone over and over again. “I can’t believe I just did that.” 

“So just call her back.” 

“Yeah. Sure. I’ll totally do that.” 

Joe looks at his phone, ready to redial, but hesitates. What does he even say to her? ‘Hey, it’s that guy you yelled at for saving you from a monster’? Or ‘Hey, remember that guy you made fun of for only being able to do party tricks’? Would she even answer this time? How could he talk to her and not sound like a complete moron? Why is this so hard!? He sighs and starts face-palming with his phone again. 

“Joe...” Fina slowly comes over to the bed, “Have you ever talked to a girl before?” 

“Uh yeah! Of course, I have!” He blusters, “I talk to you all the time, don’t I?” 

“I don’t count.” 

She lies down on the bed next to him and he scoots over to make room for her without even thinking about it. 

“It’s not that hard,” She says, “Just be yourself.” 

“Oh wow, you really are my mom.” 

“I’m serious!” Fina laughs and leans up on one elbow to look at him, “What do you have to be nervous about? You’re funny, you’re nice, you’re interesting. Just calm down and call her. It’s not that intimidating.” 

“Then why don’t you do it?” 

“If you wish, sir.” 

“Fina, wait! Don’t!” 

Before he can stop her, Fina takes his phone and jumps off the bed. Joe fumbles getting out of bed, nearly crashing onto the floor. Fina redials the last number called and he struggles to take the phone from her as it starts ringing. 

“What are you doing!?” He hisses in a panicky whisper. 

“Only what you ordered sir,” She smiles at him in a way that makes it hard for him to tell if she knew what she was doing or not. 

“Well don’t! I told you I was going to call her!” 

“Ok, here.” 

Fina thrusts the phone out to him just as the call picks up. 

“ _Bonjour,_ _this is_ _Joleena_ _._ ” 

The voice, on the other hand, is more hesitant and a little cautious this time. Joe opens his mouth to answer and feels his throat going dry again. Fina looks at him expectantly, giving him a small nod of encouragement. 

_“Hello? Is anyone there?”_

The voice starts to sound more impatient, close to hanging up in fact, and Joe doubts that she’ll answer the same number a third time. He shoots Fina a desperate look and she rolls her eyes and brings the phone to herself instead. 

“Hello, is this Lady Joleena Beauchene?” She asks in a way too professional voice for a teenager, “I’m calling on behalf of Joseph Arthur. This is his assistant.” 

_“Who?”_

Joleena’s voice sounds genuinely confused and Joe shoots Fina an indignant look. Did she seriously forget about him!? After he saved her life!? Granted she kind of saved him first but still- 

_“Oh wait, I remember now. The boy with the party tricks.”_

“I knew it! I knew she would only remember that!” Joe hisses angrily. 

Fina waves for him to be quiet as Joleena continues on the other end. 

_“So... he asked you to call me? Why didn’t he just call me himself?”_

“He’s a little busy,” Fina explains quickly when Joe sends her another panicky look, “He is the future Warp Wizard after all.” 

_“Oh, I see.”_ It could be Joe’s imagination, but her voice sounds about ten degrees cooler. _“Well, what can I do for the future Warp Wizard? Is this about the letter my father had me send him?”_

“Yes, that’s exactly it. Is there a time we can meet with Lord Beauchene?” 

_“Well, he’s very busy and-”_

Joleena stops for a moment and Joe steps closer trying to hear. Fina makes a ‘calm down’ motion with her hand as they wait for her to get back on. 

_“Actually, my father has some time tomorrow,”_ Joleena’s voice sounds even more strained than before, _“Would four-thirty_ _p.m_ _work?”_

Joe nods enthusiastically but Fina is already answering, “That works, we’ll see you-” 

The call ends cutting her off. She looks at the phone in only mild confusion before handing the phone back to Joe. 

“See?” She smiles, “Was that so hard?” 

“Yeah, it was great,” Joe mumbles sarcastically going back to flop on the bed. He tosses his phone on the bedside table and stares up at the ceiling. Not only did he totally choke when he tried to call her, but she sounded totally disinterested in meeting up. If he failed to make a good impression on her, he could only imagine how he would do with her father. 

“Sir?” Fina comes over to the other side of the bed, “Did I do something wrong?” 

“No, it’s not you,” Joe gives her a reassuring smile, “I’m just nervous about meeting this Lord Beauchene guy. I don’t always leave the best first impression when it comes to meeting important people.” 

Fina returns his smile and sits on his bed, “You’ll be fine. I’ll be with you remember?” 

“You know, that actually makes me feel better. Considering that I can barely make a phone call.” 

“You’ll get better. I promise,” Fina lays down next to him and starts staring at the ceiling too. “Every Warp Wizard has to learn.” 

“Ahem.” 

Joe lifts his head to see Anna standing in his doorway. “What?” 

“Oh nothing, I just wanted to ask if either of you fed Cleo when you got home,” She coughs to cover a laugh, “You two sure look cozy. I’m not interrupting anything am I?” 

“What? No, of course not,” Joe rolls his eyes and sits up, “We’re just talking. And no one fed your stupid cat. She’s your pet, not mine.” 

“Ok, just asking,” Anna gives them another look before heading to her room. 

“I swear she’s so weird,” Joe flops back on his bed only to realize that Fina is at the desk now, “What are you doing?” 

“Getting started on your homework, sir.” 

Joe groans. Every day he tries to tell her not to, but every day she insists that it takes time from him studying what’s really important. He’s tempted to let her, but he knows the lecture that Sam would give him if he found out. He forces himself to stop moping and get off the bed so they can do their homework together. 


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as she gets to the park, she can tell why the nerd picked this place to meet.

Despite the gorgeously warm weather, there were hardly any people out. No t surpris ing though. The few old geezers that were out  w ould probably die of heatstroke if it were a few degrees warmer. A couple of old men sit at one of the park’s chess tables playing a game. An old lady sits on a bench feeding the squirrels. There are also a ton of trees providing shade and cover from the streets. And over the hill, it looks like there’s a retirement community or something. Yep, the nerd definitely picked this place because of its relative seclusion.

San-Li takes off her hoodie and wraps it around her waist, leaving her with her t-shirt and jeans. She adjusts the plastic shopping bag on her shoulder and makes sure to stay in the shade as she walks around. She loves the heat, but the sun burns her easily like bad Crème  Brulee . 

“I have to hand it to him, he sure knows how to pick a  nice  secluded spot,” She mumbles out -loud. 

She pops a sucker into her mouth but almost immediately drops it when something across the park makes her jaw drop. She literally has to lower her sunglasses to make sure she  i sn’t hallucinating. 

He can’t be. He isn’t. He is. 

Sam  is wearing a long trench coat, large women’s sunglasses, and a wide-brimmed hat. He creeps from  tree to tree, constantly poking his head out and looking over his shoulder . Like a kindergartener playing secret agent. 

San-Li sighs and pulls her sunglasses back up, “This is why I work alone.”

She watches him for a while but he doesn’t seem to  notice her. He’s too preoccupied looking over his shoulder until he sits down at one of the chess tables and pulls out his phone. San-Li's phone vibrates a few seconds later and she glances at it to see a new text from him. 

** I’m here. In the chess area.  **

San-Li rolls her eyes and starts to text him back when a much better idea pops into her head. Keeping her eyes on him, she silences her phone, blends  black  into the trees , and starts to circle around. Sam looks up and around as he  nervously  sets up chess pieces, but completely passes over her with each turn of his head. Without even trying, San-Li sneaks up behind him and silently closes in. Sam gives an aggravated sigh and pulls out his phone again. San-Li is so close now she can read it over his shoulder. 

** Where are you? **

“Right here, kid ,” She whispers right in his ear. 

Sam screams and falls out of the chair in panic. San-Li laughs as he scrambles back up. 

“That wasn’t funny,” He frowns as  she sits across from him

“You know what else isn’t funny? That,” She gestures to his outfit, “I was watching you, and you look like a five-year-old playing secret agent. Lose the coat, the sunglasses, and the hat . P lease.”

Sam blushes and starts taking off the coat, but mumbles irritably, “You’re wearing sunglasses too.”

“For your information, I have sensitive eyes.”

She takes them off though since they’re sitting in the shade. She glances down at the board and then makes the first move. 

“White goes first,” Sam immediately corrects her.

“I don’t care.” 

Sam rolls his eyes and makes his move, “Anyways,  I’m surprised you show ed  up.  Part of me thought you wouldn’t come.”

“Did I have a choice?”

“Actually, you did,” Sam pulls out his notebook, “Turns out there’s some sort of  non- servantry clause to this...thing. In layman’s terms, it prevents you from just ordering me around.”

“ Which means the same goes for you too, kid. Now can you turn down the snark? I’m trying to concentrate.”

The faintest smirk crosses Sam’s face, “Not so easy to beat me this time, is it?”

San-Li frowns. She hates to admit it, but he’s right. It’s not like he’s the toughest chess player she’s ever faced, but it is taking a little more concentration than it usually does for her to play him. She’s used to being the snarky one. Most people are usually too afraid of her to talk back to her once she shows her true face. 

“ So, what’s in the bag?” Sam asks.

San-Li purses her lips and pushes it out of sight with her foot, “A  severed  head. Is that why you wanted to meet? If you wanted a  chat and a  chess rematch  all you had to do was ask so I can turn you down directly.”

“No, I didn’t ask you here to play chess with you, or just chat, ” Sam frowns at the board and hesitates before making his next move, “I wanted to ask if you heard more from whoever sent you that note about the box. Maybe they can help us figure a way out of this sooner than I can translate it.”

San-Li shakes her head. Not only has she not heard from whoever sent her the note, but she also wouldn’t trust them if she had. She doesn’t know if they were just wrong or actively trying to set her up, but she isn’t making the same mistake of trusting them twice. It was bad enough she was willing to rely on Sam to expand her thieving range. Things were getting a little too tight for her liking. 

She makes her move and watches as Sam contemplates his next move. Watching him is actually a little interesting. She can see him thinking, planning his next few moves. But it’s more than that though. He also watches her side of the board, thinking about the next moves she might make. All of this in only the few seconds it takes for him to move his piece.

“Your turn.”

San-Li suppresses an angry laugh. He can’t even keep the smugness out of his voice. He’s already so sure he has her beat and that ticks her off a bit. She toys with the ring on her thumb before moving her bishop.

“Are you serious?” Sam smug expression mixes with confusion, “You do realize you just threw away your  bishop, right?”

“So why do you know how to read Sumerian anyway?” San-Li says instead and moves her rook, “Do you study dead languages as a hobby or is your school really that intense?”

“I took an AP World History class and did some research on my own for extra credit,” Sam mumbles and takes her rook, “And you just lost your rook too.”

“You studied a dead language for extra credit?” San-Li recklessly moves her knight next, “Let me guess, mommy doesn’t pay enough attention to you so you try to excel at academics to earn her love?”

“My mom loves me a lot and I  happen to  like academics,” Sam glares at her though as he takes her knight. “You know, maybe if you spent less time being unnecessarily rude and paid more attention to what you’re doing, you would realize that you’re needlessly losing your most important pieces.” 

“Not unnecessary or needless,” San-Li gives him a triumphant smile and moves her pawn, “Checkmate.”

“Yeah, right. You-”

Sam stops short though as he does a double-take at the board. San-Li sits back and lets it sink in for him. He was so distracted by her prodding questions, and so sure that she was being stupidly reckless with her stronger pieces, that he didn’t even notice the fact that he was leaving his king open. Any minute now he was going to storm from the table and-

“Good move, I honestly didn’t see that coming,” Sam nods with only a little annoyance in his voice. 

“I know. That’s why I did it .” San-Li frowns in  confusion though. She was definitely expecting a less calm reaction. 

“But did you really have to go personal like that?” He asks sounding angry again. “What you said was really  mean  and a little out of line.”

“So, go cry to your mom who loves you a lot about it.”

“See? Right there! You’re being rude for no reason.” Sam sighs and takes off his  g lasses to rub his eyes, “This would go a whole lot easier for  _ both  _ of us if you were a little nicer to me.”

“News flash: I’m not nice.”

“Yeah, I don’t  think I  need the  reminder.”

San-Li narrows her eyes and opens her mouth to retort but closes it again when her phone goes off. It’s a calendar reminder that her meeting with her client starts soon. 

“Hold whatever snarky comment you have  next ; I have a meeting to go to.” San-Li puts her sunglasses back on and pulls out her pocket watch. 

Sam’s eyes go wide, “Wait! You’re just going to warp right here? In the open?” 

San-Li smirks, “Who’s going to stop me?”

Before he can say anything else, she  grabs her bag,  opens her pocket watch and warps away.

* * *

San-Li lands hard on the stony floor and feels the shock all the way up her knees. She curses in annoyance and quickly pulls her hoodie back on. The cave is dank and chilly and the smoke stings her throat. 

“I liked the park better,” she mumbles and goes looking for her client. 

Dim light makes it hard to see. Dingy y ellow smoke curls around her feet. Her footsteps make vague echoing noises. The rock ceiling  is collapsed in some areas leaving crumbling pillars beneath. If the place was a building, it would be beyond condemned. Why would anyone willingly live here? She comes across a partial blockage in the passageway and climbs over it, scraping her knee in the process. After she’s over, the passage opens up but the view isn’t much better. The cavern is filled with collapsed piles of rubble and parts of the floor is fractured making the ground uneven. San-Li treads carefully as she approaches her client.

Jack is sleeping in a cracked and broken stone chair. The skin on his face sags with old age. Wrinkles line his skin along with cracks that faintly glow a sickly yellow-green. San-Li cringes in disgust just looking at him. Insensitive but true. It’s a wonder that he’s even alive. 

“ _ Ahem,”  _ She clears her throat loudly. 

Jack startles awake with a snort, almost falling out of his chair. He squints his eyes trying to see by the dim light. “What was that? Who goes there?” 

“It’s me,” San-Li reluctantly comes forward so he can see her better. “You called about a new job?”

Jack shakes his head in confusion though and continues peering at her  suspiciously , “ Wha ?  Nnnngh , who are you? You need a job?”

“No,” San-Li raises her voice and walks even closer, “You called me for a job. Remember , old man ?”

Recognition comes into Jack’s face and he leans back satisfied, “Ah yes, my professional time thief. You finally showed up.” 

“Finally? I’m right on time you decrepit, old-” San-Li stops herself with a calming breath and holds out the shopping bag she brought with her. “Look, I was nice enough to bring this for you, but I’m mean and impatient enough to take it back.”

“What is it? Give it here!”

He snatches it from her surprisingly quickly for an old man and pulls out the cushions she brought for him. A look of genuine surprise and gratefulness comes over his face before he clears his throat shoves the  cushions back in the bag. 

“I suppose I’m should thank you for these,” He mumbles, “But that would be a waste of both of our times when I could be giving you your next assignment.” He adds quickly. 

“Please, do.” 

San-Li is as uncomfortable with this moment as he looks. She doesn’t want him to get the wrong idea that she cares about him or something. If she was going to keep coming here for new jobs though, she shouldn’t have to subject herself to see an old man sitting in an uncomfortable stone chair. What was even the point of it? He doesn’t have a mattress or bed or something?

“For this job, you are to find a pair of magic knitting needles. When used, they have the power to encode and decode secret messages. As well as uncover any secret loyalties. Or secrets for that matter.”

San-Li scoffs in mild disbelief, “Seriously? That’s a thing?”

Jack’s face blooms with anger, “Yes, it’s a thing! And I want them! I need them! I- I- I-”

As he speaks his voice becomes higher in pitch and his body shrinks. San-Li's eyes widen in horror as Jack transforms in a round-cheeked, chubby infant. His words fall into incoherent babbling and he calmly looks around. San-Li however, isn’t so calm. 

“ Wha \- How- What am I supposed to do with this!?” She gestures wildly to no one in particular, “Jack! Are you still in there!?”

Jack looks at her and  starts  blow ing spit bubble s . 

San-Li groans and pinches the bridge of her nose. “You know what? Why don’t I just come back?”

She starts to take out her pocket watch but notices how precariously baby Jack is sitting on the stone chair. He’s literally wobbling in place, unbalanced even in a sitting position. It wouldn’t bother her so much except that the chair is stone and the floor underneath it is stone too. If he fell, he could seriously hurt himself. 

A large spit bubble pops startling baby Jack . His face trembles and he  bursts into high pitch wails. Her body reacts immediately, causing her to take a step forward before she stops herself short. No, she was not going to get drawn into this. He changed himself into a baby, he can change himself back. She wasn’t going to-

San-Li closes the distance and catches Jack just as he teeters over. Her stomach clenches as he seems to naturally settle in her arms, but his crying  continues . 

“Shhhh,  shhhhh , you’re okay,” She soothes while bouncing him in her arms. 

Jack’s crying starts to slow into snuffling whines until they stop completely. He gives a huge yawn and snuggles further into her arms and before she knows it, he’s fast asleep. San-Li closes her eyes against the onslaught of old emotions and continues to rock and bounce him. She should have left when she had the chance. For the first time, she fully wondered about Jack’s “condition”. Was it some failed magic experiment or did some other magician or wizard royally mess him up? She didn’t even know Jack could age this low. How often did he turn into an infant when she wasn’t around? 

“I am not baby proofing this place for you, Jack,” She warns out loud. 

But she does reach into the shopping bag with one hand and lays the cushion on the chair for him. Jack suddenly begins shifting in her arms and starts growing rapidly. She puts him down just as he grows into a middle-aged man. There’s an awkward beat as he readjusts his cloak around himself.

“I um, suppose I should thank you for that as well,” He grumbles, unable to look her in the eye. 

“I’d rather you didn’t. Now tell me where the needles are so I can get out of here and we can forget this ever happened.”

Jack makes a waving motion with his hand and a globe floats upon the same unstable cloud as before. It wobbles as it spins on its axis before coming to a stop. A text box pops up: “France, 1793.”

“Hm,  _ J'ai _ __ _ eu _ __ _ l'intention _ _ de  _ _ rafraîchir _ _ mon  _ _ français _ ,” San-Li smirks. 

Jack stares at her in confusion, “What?”

“I said- never mind,” San-Li rolls her eyes and takes out her pocket watch, “Try not to die before I get back. I expect my payment in full.” 

She then warps away in a flash of blue-green light before she’s forced to babysit again. To be honest, she’s looking forward to this job. Eighteenth-century France is one of the few time periods she’s actually familiar with. She doesn’t even need the nerd to help her with this. Time to do what she does best. 


	3. Chapter 3

The cards glow green as they arch from one hand to the other. Sometimes they move in a fast blur; sometimes they move in slow motion. Joe tries focusing on feeling it happen rather than staring at them to make it happen. It’s a magic meditation technique that Fina taught him last night when his nerves kept getting the best of him. 

Fina is pretty quiet too which makes Joe wonder if she’s getting nervous now. 

“You ok?” He asks still trying to maintain some focus on his cards, “You’re pretty quiet. Well, slightly more quiet than usual.” 

“I’m fine,” She answers lightly, “Are you alright? You still seem nervous.” 

Joe shrugs, “I mean, kind of. You said that Lord Beauchene is a big deal. He’s a lord. It’s not like I’ve ever met a lord before. At least, not without a couple of guards chasing me. Or being threatened with execution.” 

Fina gives a pained smile at that making Joe laugh and easing his nervousness a little. Only a little. 

“You honestly have no reason to be nervous though,” Fina says, “The Warp Wizard is more powerful and more influential than they’d like to admit. Control of all time and space remember?” 

“Some good that does me when little monsters are running around.” 

A faint frown line appears in Fina’s forehead. She mumbles, “That’s only because you don’t know what you’re doing.” Joe looks at her and she quickly adds, “Yet.” 

Before Joe can ask anything else, he realizes that they’ve reached their destination. His eyes widen and his cards settle back into his hand as his magic falters. 

The house was huge. Not just huge for New York huge. Huge, huge. Joe has to crane his neck just to see the roof. Of course, the Beauchenes lived here. What else would he expect? He’s surprised there isn’t an armed guard out front. But he didn’t take over an hour-long subway to be intimidated by some door. So, without giving it a second thought he lifts his hand and rings the doorbell. The chimes echo a classical tune on the other side. 

“That was brave of you,” Fina smiles beside him, “Not nervous anymore?” 

Joe lifts his chin, “Of course not. I’m the future Warp Wizard. What do I have to be nervous about?” 

But as soon as the door swings open, all of his false bravado disappears. Jasper is even more intimidating than he remembers. His muscles fill the doorway and he doesn’t look too impressed seeing him. He doesn’t say anything though, he gives a slight nod to Fina and holds out his hand. Joe starts to lift his hand to shake his, but Fina puts his hand down. 

“He wants your Professional Magician Card,” She explains to him and turns to Jasper, “He’s not a full-fledged magician yet. He’s the future Warp Wizard and the Lord expressed interest in him.” 

Jasper lowers his hand and steps to the side, ushering them in. They follow him through a marble entryway and past an ornate polished wood staircase. Paintings hang on the wall like a museum. The waves begin to move in a painting of a boat on the sea causing Joe to jump a little as he passes it. 

“Fina! Did you see-” 

Jasper clears his throat, cutting him off, and drawing attention to the fact that they’ve stopped in front of a closed door. He gives two sharp knocks before opening it and motioning for them to go in. Joe tries not to let his jaw drop. 

The living room is so formal that he can’t imagine anyone actually living in it. The wooden floor is so polished that he can see his reflection in it. Floor to ceiling French windows line one wall, a giant bookcase filled with books takes up another, and the third wall has a long painting of what looks like a battle. And on the ceiling is a gold and crystal chandelier. 

Joe only has a second to take all of this in though because sitting on a pristine white couch is Lord Beauchene, looking as scary as ever, and next to him is Joleena, looking a little bored. She glances up when they enter the room and her eyes meet Joe’s for a split second before she looks away. Lord Beauchene, however, freezes Joe to the spot with his intense amber eyes. His nervousness comes back full force and his mouth goes completely dry. 

“Ah, Monsieur Arthur,” Lord Beauchene greets him with a dry smile, “I’m glad we can have a proper meeting. Please, have a seat.” 

He gestures to a high-backed, cushioned chair in front of him. Joe raises an eyebrow and glances at Fina. Lord Beauchene didn’t so much as glance at her and there isn’t a second chair for her to sit. But Fina gives him a light nudge forward and he sits down with her standing right behind him. 

“So, this is the next potential Warp Wizard?” Lord Beauchene gives him the once over, “I remember you, now. You’ve had the pleasure of meeting my daughter, Joleena.” 

“Yeah, we've met,” Joe tries to sound casual, cool. “How have you been, Joleena?” 

She barely flicks her eyes at him, “ _Ça_ _va.”_

Joe feels his teeth clench. He doesn’t need French class to tell him that she was just as dismissive as ever. 

“I never had the chance to thank you for saving my daughter’s life,” Lord Beauchene continues, “My daughter told me the power you displayed was quite... impressive.” 

“She did?” 

Joleena glances away with a slight blush just as Joe’s eyes meet hers again. 

“But... she also informed me that your methods were foolhardy at best.” 

“She did?” 

Joe shoots an accusing look at Joleena. She isn’t looking at him, but she is trying to hide a small smile behind her fingers. 

“Yes. According to her and various witnesses, the methods you employed were brash and _malavisé_ ,” Lord Beauchene steeples his fingers together and pins Joe with a serious look, “From what I can see you are not a child, _non?_ So, you know that magic is not a toy to be wielded by any _imbécile.”_

Joe’s hands grip the arms of the chair hard. That sure came out of nowhere. He thought Lord Beauchene was thanking him for saving his daughter, not insult him. From behind him though, he hears Fina’s quiet, sharp intake of breath. The sound reminds Joe to keep his cool and not say what he’s really thinking. 

“Actually sir, I’m taking lessons with my uncle Joe the Magnificent. Maybe you’ve heard of him?” Joe says proudly. 

“Ah yes, _Monsieur_ Magnificent,” Lord Beauchene smiles in a way that Joe doesn’t necessarily like, “I’ve heard he’s well respected in your community, but is he not an entertainer?” 

“Well... yeah,” Joe admits but refuses to feel apologetic, “But he’s still a great magician. Everything I’ve learned is thanks to him. And my assistant.” 

“Is that so?” Lord Beauchene leans back and exchanges a look with his daughter, “I’d love to see a demonstration with my own eyes.” 

“Uhh...” 

Joe feels his stomach drop. He should have seen this coming. Of course, he’d want to see his magic in action. 

“Is that really necessary?” Joleena speaks up for the first time, sounding absolutely bored, “It’s just time magic. There’s not much to see. Messing with the controls on a video would have the same effect.” 

“Hey!” Joe bursts out angrily, “I think we both know that my magic is a lot more powerful than that!” 

Joleena shoots him a warning look, but Lord Beauchene is already nodding. 

“I agree, _Monsieur_ Arthur, so let us see your magic, s _'il_ _vous_ _plaît_ _,_ ” 

Joe’s anger is quickly replaced with panic, “R-right, um... you see...” 

“What he means to say, sir is that his magic is of too much importance and he takes it too seriously for an impromptu demonstration in your sitting room,” Fina speaks up. 

Lord Beauchene flicks his eyes at her for the first time since they came in, and for a minute Joe thought that he would be annoyed. Instead, he turns his eyes back to Joe. 

“Very well, I’m sure I’ll have ample opportunity to witness your skills another time. Now to the business for which I have asked you to come.” 

Joe straightens up and his heart starts beating with a mixture of eagerness and nervousness. 

“While I admit I’m not too familiar with the way your, erm, time travel community as a whole, I do know that the Warp Wizard is a prominent figure. I also know that circumstances of your, _ahem_ , pending elevation are somewhat... unusual.” 

Joe glances at Fina, wondering how she would take hearing the old Warp Wizard’s disappearance referred to as just unusual. Her mouth tightens slightly but other than that no emotion passes through her face. 

“And because your situation is so unusual, I would like to lend my assistance,” Lord Beauchene smiles, “Through _ma_ _fille_ Joleena.” 

“What!?” Joe and Joleena burst out at the same time. Joe looks at her and sees genuine astonishment and even a little dread in her expression. 

“Joleena, _se calmer_ ,” Lord Beauchene hisses sternly. 

Joleena’s eyes lower in embarrassment and she makes an effort to compose herself. Lord Beauchene turns back to Joe. 

“Though I realize you are invaluable within your community, I’m afraid that I just don’t have the time to take on another case. As my protegee and eventual successor, my daughter is more than capable to act as my stand-in. Whatever you need, be it resources, advice, or finances, please don’t hesitate to let her know.” 

“Um, thanks, for the offer but-” 

He’s cut off though when the door opens and Jasper walks in carrying a cordless phone on a tray. Lord Beauchene holds up his hand in a wait gesture to Joe while he answers the phone. 

“Lady Ricci, _come_ _va_ _?,”_ He answers the phone in yet another language, “ _ho_ _aspettato_ _la tuar_ _r_ _risposta_ _.”_ He then puts his hand on the receiver to address Joe, “If you’ll excuse me for a moment _monsieur_ Arthur, I’ve been waiting for this call all morning.” 

With that, Lord Beauchene exits the room, still talking on the phone, and leaving Joe and Fina alone with his daughter Joleena. The three of them sit in awkward silence. Joleena hasn’t looked up since her dad shushed her and Joe tries to look everywhere else, but keeps finding his eyes going back to her. She sits with her ankles crossed, one leg bouncing. Her fingers are folded over her knees, making her gold bracelets jingle softly. He smiles a little. Is it possible that she’s just as nervous as he is? 

“You know,” he smiles and notices that she’s dressed like she’s going to a business meeting again, “If I knew you were going to get all dressed up just to see me, I would have put on nicer jeans.” 

A small smile starts on Joleena lips which she tries to hide. 

“Oh?” She playfully raises her eyebrows, “I didn't know that there was such a thing as nice jeans.” 

“Well, we can’t all live in business chic like you do.” 

“I don’t live in it,” She smirks and flips her hair, “I just look amazing in it.” 

It wasn’t a lie. Maybe because he’s only seen her in fancy business clothes, but it does suit her somehow. He’s just on the verge of saying so when he remembers that Fina’s in the room. He clears his throat awkwardly. 

“So... I guess your dad likes me huh?” He says instead, “Lucky me.” 

Joleena scoffs, “ _Oui,_ lucky you.” 

“Um, is there something I should know?” 

“Nothing much. Just-” She tries to hide a smile behind her fingers, “try to learn more than just a few party tricks. He’s not as easily charmed as I am.” 

Joe grins, “So you think I’m charming?” 

Joleena’s eyes flash toward his, but then she glances behind him at Fina. Her expression clears and she looks down again. 

“Just try not to disappoint him. He doesn’t magic lightly.” 

“Well, neither do I.” 

“ _Oui_ card tricks are very serious.” 

“You know I can do more than that!” Joe doesn’t know how it happened, but suddenly he’s getting very annoyed and even a little angry. “Do you not remember what happened at the convention?” 

“I remember your sister calling most of the shots.” 

Ok, now Joe is really angry. Just what was this girl’s issue? 

“But even I have to admit you were very brave,” she continues with a small smile, “And that’s saying something considering the utter mayhem going on.” 

And just like that, all of Joe’s anger and annoyance disappear like smoke. Joleena’s eyes meet his again and she looks away, but he doesn’t. He starts to smile but then remembers that Fina is still in the room. He clears his throat. 

“Thanks. You were pretty brave too.” 

Joleena turns away like she couldn’t care less about his compliment, but he sees her trying to hide a smile behind her fingers again. 

At that moment, the door opens again and Lord Beauchene re-enters the room. Joleena immediately straightens up and clears her face of expression as if the past five minutes never happened. Lord Beauchene doesn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary as he sits down. 

“Now, where were we?” He steeples his fingers and smiles at Joe, “Ah yes, you were thanking me for my generosity.” 

“Yeah, but- I mean, yes thank you, but um,” Joe clears his throat awkwardly, feeling his nerves come back, “I was just wondering, I mean, you are being really generous. Can I ask why you’re doing for me? I almost feel like I don’t deserve it.” 

“Don’t deserve it?” Lord Beauchene raises an eyebrow, “Do you not think that saving my daughter is deserving of recognition?” 

“What? No, no! That’s not what I’m saying at all!” Joe’s eyes nervously dart to Joleena but she just rolls her eyes. 

“ _Bien_ , then I believe that we have no more to discuss, do we?” 

Lord Beauchene stands up and with a small touch from Fina, Joe stands up too. Joleena remains sitting, looking off with a bored expression on her face. 

“ _Monsieur_ Arthur. It was a pleasure meeting you.” Lord Beauchene crushes Joe’s hand in a firm handshake. 

“Um, the pleasure is mine. Sir.” He tries not to wince as the gold rings bruise his fingers. 

“Jasper will show you out,” Lord Beauchene makes a small motion with his hand and suddenly Jasper fills the doorway. “I’ll be in touch.” 

Joe and Fina are ushered out of the room quickly and efficiently. Joe glances over his shoulder one last time. Lord Beauchene is standing with a small smile on his face looking pleased. Joleena meets Joe’s eyes for just a second before looking away again. 

As soon as the front door closes behind them, Joe feels like he’s finally about to breathe again. Despite its size, there’s something about that house that was suffocating. 

“That wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it’d be. Joleena was acting kind of weird but-” 

“I can’t believe he talked to you like that!” 

Joe jumps and realizes belatedly that Fina is fuming, her blue eyes blazing with anger and indignation. 

“Wh-what do you mean?” 

“I mean how he talked to you like you were a child! A-a novice magician!” Fina huffs and begins walking fast. 

Joe practically has to jog to keep up with her, “Um Fina? I kind of am a novice. I did go on hiatus for a few years.” 

“It doesn’t matter,” Fina grumbles, “You’re the future Warp Wizard. Novice or not, he should be treating you with more respect. With any respect.” 

“Fina, I don’t mind, really. It’s no big deal.” 

Joe puts a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. She sighs and moves from under his hand. 

“Maybe you should care, Nathan!” She yells in exasperation. 

“Nathan?” Joe raises an eyebrow in confusion, “Who’s Nathan?” 

Fina stops walking and her hand goes to the front of her shirt where her necklace was hiding, before letting it fall to her side again. 

“Sorry, sir,” she whispers, “I spoke out of turn. It won’t happen again.” 

“I told you about calling me sir,” He goes to put his hand on her shoulder again, but thinks better of it, and settles for walking next to her instead. “And it’s okay.” 

“Nathan was like that too,” Fina smiles, but it’s a little sad, “He’s the Warp Wizard before you. He didn’t care much about what other people thought about him. He didn’t care what anyone thought about him because he knew how powerful he was.” 

Joe smiles too. It’s the first time he’s heard anything about the Warp Wizard before him. Fina never talks about him for some reason. 

“I wish I was more like that,” He shrugs, “But honestly, it’s just so different being paid attention to in the first place. The only help I ever had was my uncle. And maybe my great-granddaughter. So, having Lord Beauchene offer his help like that is pretty cool.” 

He expects Fina to agree, but she falls silent, pursing her lips in thought. Joe shrugs and lets his mind wander as they head home. He wonders exactly what kind of help he should ask from Lord Beauchene. If The Book really is the most powerful item in the universe, then why would he need any help from the Beauchenes? Can he teach him how to do magic outside of time magic? Fred would probably tell him to definitely take advantage of the money. He used to constantly talk about doing some sort of time travel vacation. Joe scoffs quietly to himself. Yeah right. Joleena would laugh in his face if he asked for the money to go on vacation. Or maybe not. He actually doesn’t know her that well. Which... he realizes might change soon. 

“You’re smiling.” 

Joe jumps, the sound of her voice breaking out of his thoughts. He chuckles and rubs the back of his neck, “Heh, heh, yeah. Sorry, I guess I was.” 

Fina gives him a curious look, “What were you thinking about?” 

“Nothing much. Just... that having the Beauchenes on call might not be a bad thing.” 

“Hmmm,” Fina purses her lips again, “Sir, I hate to say this, but... I wouldn’t exactly trust the intentions of that family.” 

“What makes you say that? I mean, yeah Lord Beauchene is a little intimidating, be he seems like a good guy.” 

“It’s not a matter of him being good or bad. But you have to ask yourself, what does he get out of helping you?” 

Joe shrugs and gives her a jaunty smile, “Maybe he just wants to help.” 

Fina blows up her bangs in exasperation, “Yeah, everyone just wants to help.” 

“Isn’t that literally your job? Just to help?” 

Fina opens her mouth to retort, but closes it again looking perplexed, “T-that’s not the same thing.” 

“Just relax, Fina. This will be a good thing. Trust me.” 

“If you say so, sir," she says as obedient as ever, but her eyes are full of doubt. 


	4. Chapter 4

The sky is still mostly black with just a strip of dark blue as the sun hasn’t made it over the horizon. Cars occasionally pass by the house, the sound of their engines echo down the alley. The Arthur household is nearly silent as well. The a/c occasionally hums but other than that there’s nothing. Everyone is still asleep at this ungodly hour. Everyone except Fina. 

She sits in front of the small vanity in the guest room Mrs. Arthur let her stay in and stares at her reflection in the mirror. Even though it’s early she’s already dressed for school in a simple pleated skirt and t-shirt. She couldn’t remember the last time she got a full night’s sleep. Oh yeah, the day before he left. She hadn’t been sleeping much since then. The longer Fina stares at her reflection, the worse she looks. Her eyes are glassy and vague. Her hair is a blonde, curly mess. Her lips are pale and thin. She looks near dead. Or like she doesn’t really exist. 

Fina lifts her hands, takes a breath, and slaps her cheeks hard. The immediate sting is replaced by a dull burn, but at least now her cheeks are pink and livelier. She then practices smiling. Lifting her lips a little in the corners makes her look patient, maybe even amused. Smiling more makes her look sarcastic, maybe dry. It just isn’t reaching her eyes though. She shakes her head and stretches her jaw. She has to do better than that. A good assistant is always pleasant and agreeable. Ready to serve and be of service. 

“It’s not so bad,” She tries to give her reflection a pep talk, “Joe’s nice. He’s a lot like him.” 

But was that necessarily a good thing? To be around someone who reminds her of someone else. Only to be constantly reminded that the someone else may never- 

“Stop it,” she chides herself, slapping her cheeks again, “He’s coming back, of course, he’s coming back.” 

Fina shakes her head. Why is this so hard for her? Warp Wizards have come and gone before. She doesn’t know why _his_ disappearance bothers her so much. She’s been professional about her role for centuries. Never getting more attached than she needs to. Staying loyal to the Warp Wizard, not the person behind the title. But out of nowhere, her eyes burn and she closes her them to prevent tears from welling up. She couldn’t cry. She can’t cry. Fina doesn’t cry. Fina doesn’t- 

A sob breaks out of Fina, catching her off guard. She bites her tongue hard enough to taste blood. The pain helps her regain her composure and when she looks back at her reflection, a perfectly practiced impassive face stares back. She smiles slowly and her expression is sweet and nice and genuine. Genuine enough at least. 

Part of her job was to be whatever the Warp Wizard needed. If they needed a silent servant, she was mute. If they were older and needed an equal, she was mature and somber. Turns out Joe was a special case. He’s young but inexperienced. He wanted a friend so she tries to be friendly and patient and encouraging, 

“It’s not like it’s hard to be genuinely nice to him,” She muses out loud, “Joe’s actually really nice. He makes being his assistant enjoyable. He’ll make a great Warp Wizard someday. Ugh, so why can’t I stop worrying about _him_?” 

Fina blows her bangs up and closes her eyes. She reaches out trying to sense something, anything. A small, brief spark answers back and Fina shoots up out of her seat, suddenly hopeful. But that hope is short-lived when she realizes that it’s only Joe’s magic she’s feeling. 

“Come on,” She whispers furiously at herself, “that can’t be all I can feel.” 

Once again, she closes her eyes and concentrates harder. Her feet begin to move on their own accord, pacing around the room. A painful spike shoots through her temples. The spark returns stronger, but it’s still only Joe’s magic. 

_He’s getting stronger,_ she thinks in mild surprise. 

It’s almost like radar. She can sense him moving around in his room. She tries to push past him though and focus harder. She keeps pacing as she tries to expand her senses but only seems to lock onto Joe harder. He’s moving out of his room, heading down the hall. He passes her door to get to the stairs but then hesitates. He starts to turn back and Fina realizes with a shock that he’s heading to her room. 

Fina stops pacing and swings open the door. Joe jumps in surprise, his fist still in the air ready to knock. He stares at her, still wearing his pajama pants and a t-shirt. 

“D-did you need something, sir?” Fina asks in a whisper. 

“Uhhh,” Joe blinks and lowers his fist, “S-sorry. I was just going into the kitchen for some water and I thought I heard you moving around in your room. I was just going to check to see if you were o-” 

“I’m fine,” She answers quickly. 

Joe stares at her with genuine concern and she finds herself fidgeting. For a minute she’s afraid that his warm brown eyes will see right through her. She forces herself to stand still though, get herself under control. 

“Are you sure?” Joe presses gently, “Because if you want to talk or anything...” 

_No, not really._ Fina gives a careful slow smile. Sweet and nice and genuine. “I’m okay. Is there anything I can get you?” 

“No, I’m good,” Joe smiles back, his shoulders visibly relaxing. He even chuckles a little as he looks at her. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen your hair that crazy looking before.” 

She stares at him in confusion until it dawns on her that her hair is still a crazy mess. Gasping, she panics and slams the door shut and gasps again when she realizes what she just did. 

“Fina wait! I’m sorry!” Joe’s voice calls from the other side of the door, sounding just as panicked, “I wasn’t making fun of you, I swear.” 

“No, I’m sorry, sir,” Fina calls back, running to the vanity, “I’ll see you at breakfast.” 

She starts tearing a brush through her hair. It snags and pulls but she ignores the brief pain. A lot of hair ends up coming out with the brush strokes, but Fina cleans it up without a second thought. It takes a while, but finally, her hair is tame enough to twist into twin braids. She then leans into the mirror to check her reflection one more time. She still looks pale and nervous so she pinches her cheeks and bites her lips to give herself some color. She almost wished she had some makeup but the thought to buy some never actually crossed her mind before. 

After she’s done, she takes a moment to calm herself. She has to make breakfast and clean up before accompanying Joe to school. Professional and efficient. She just had to be professional and efficient. Just like always. 

She’s taken a little while getting ready, so she’s sure that Joe’s probably back in his room by now. If she can sneak downstairs without anyone hearing her, she can make breakfast in peace without these distracting thoughts and emotions getting the best of her. 

But when she opens the door to leave, she freezes in the doorway. Joe scrambles up off the floor where he had been sitting. Had he honestly been waiting for her to come out? 

“I’m sorry,” he bursts out quickly, “I wasn’t trying to insult you or make fun of you. I’ve just never seen you with your hair out before. I think it’s cute. I mean, not that your braids aren’t cute too. You’re cute! But I’m not trying to be creepy about it! I didn’t get up at five o’clock in the morning just to call you cute. I just want to make sure you know I value you as a friend and friends complement each other all the time. We also tease each other but it’s all good-natured. And I- I should stop talking now, shouldn’t I?” 

By the time Joe ends his nervous rambling he’s out of breath and looking at her nervously. Fina stands there, standing as still as she can so he wouldn’t notice how floored she is. He was treating her like he actually did want them to be friends. Like he forgot that she was there for him, not that other way around. 

“I’m... happy to serve you, sir,” Fina says lamely. It’s the only thing she can think to say. 

The words only seem to ease Joe a little. He nods but still looks apprehensive. 

“Okay, um, I guess I’ll see you downstairs?” 

“Y-yes. Would you like anything special for breakfast?” 

Joe throws a smile at her over his shoulder as he heads back to his room, “Whatever you make is fine. You’re cooking is amazing.” 

Fina flushes at the compliment and heads downstairs. 

* * *

Joe gets dressed slowly, taking his time. He hopes he didn’t weird Fina out too much. His mouth has a habit of running away from him when he gets nervous. As friendly as they’ve become, he’s still getting used to dealing with Fina. There are still times where she’s hard to read and he’s worried about offending her or making her upset. He doesn’t know why, but for some reason, Fina seemed like the type who could cry pretty easily. Maybe she was bullied or something when she was younger. Even though she tells him over and over again that she’s there to help him, he feels weirdly protective of her. 

Joe bites his lip. Maybe that’s why he didn’t tell her the real reason why he was up at four this morning. The truth was; he had a nightmare and couldn’t go back to sleep. It was dumb and embarrassing and childish, but when he first woke up, the dream had left such a terrible feeling that he has been afraid to go back to sleep again. Instead, he had laid in bed awake, rethinking the images. 

_It’s like an old-fashioned slide show projection. Images are sepia-toned and grainy. Sounds are muffled and distant._

_The city is sprawling. Buildings large and small made up of brick and stone. The roads are made of cobblestone and packed earth. Horses pull carts and elegant carriages. Ivy climbs large house_ _s._ _A mob of r_ _ag-tag men and women storm t_ _he streets_ _._ _A few_ _carr_ _y_ _blue, white, and red stripe flag_ _s_ _, smeared with dirt._

_Sun glints off the blade of a guillotine. The edge of the blade is rusty. Lines of elegantly dressed people, now_ _reduced to_ _rags, wait for their turn at the executioner's block._

Joe shudders. The terrible feeling isn’t as strong anymore, but it’s been replaced with something else. Uncertainty. Why had he seen this? It looked like a war or a revolution, but that couldn’t be all there was to it. Wars and revolutions happened. It couldn’t be up to him to stop an entire war from happening, could it? 

_BeeepBeepBeepBeep!_

The alarm clock blares, snapping Joe out of his thoughts. He finishes getting ready and unplugs his phone from the charger. He turns it on, but even after it loads, no new messages pop up. He frowns and shoves it in his pocket. He doesn’t know what else he was expecting from- whatever, never mind. Joe grabs his backpack and heads downstairs. 

Fina’s is already in the kitchen, doling out eggs, bacon, and toast on plates. The sink is free of dishes, the stove is wiped clean, and there’s even a plate set aside for Anna. Joe doesn’t know how she does it. He couldn’t have taken that long to get ready, did he? 

“Wow,” He says as he sits down, “You’re fast.” 

“I try to be as efficient as I can,” she says humbly but Joe spots a small, proud smile on her lips. 

“Well, you guys sure aren’t efficient at being quiet in the morning.” 

Anna comes down the stairs, wearing her pajamas and her expression more than a little annoyed. 

“I mean, come on guys, I could hear Joe groveling all the way in my room,” she yawns and sits at the table, “If you two have to fight, can you do it on the bus or something? I am right down the hall remember?” 

“We weren’t fighting.” Joe and Fina answer at the same time. 

Their eyes meet and they look away awkwardly. 

“Mmhm, sure. Right. So, what were you two not fighting about?” 

“How much salt Fina should put in your eggs. She only wanted to put a cup, I thought you needed two.” 

Anna sticks her tongue out at him, but Fina doesn’t even crack a smile. Joe sinks in his seat and pushes his eggs around on his plate. Fina seems distant as she places a plate in front of Anna who purposely catches Joe’s eye and takes a large bite of eggs. 

“So,” she says after she swallows, “I was wondering since you know, we’re both being responsible and studying magic, that the next time you warp with The Book, maybe I could go with you.” 

“No.” Joe and Fina answer at the same time. Joe laughs awkwardly but Fina just looks away. 

Anna’s jaw drops, “Really? Are you both serious? Fina- I used to warp by myself all the time. Joe- you know I can time travel.” 

“It’s too dangerous.” 

“For both of you,” Fina gives Joe a pointed look before leaving the table. 

Joe rolls his eyes behind her back but gives Anna a look, “Don’t even think about snooping in my room. The Book’s not even in there.” 

He ignores Anna’s nasty look and follows Fina out the door. Even though she left first, Fina waits patiently for him and they walk to the bus stop together. The walk is a little... awkward. Joe keeps stealing glances at Fina to see if she’s upset about earlier. With her, it was sometimes hard to tell. In the time they’d spent together, he could honestly call her his friend. Sometimes comments and jokes just seem to roll off her back. There were other times though like now, he was having a hard time telling what she was thinking or feeling. 

“One of the first Warp Wizards absolutely hated my hair,” She says quietly, out of nowhere as they sit down. She toys with one of her braids, “He hated me. He believed that women had no place in magic. Not even as assistants. My hair was pretty long back then so he took it as a personal insult. Which he was apt to punish me for.” 

Joe stares at her wide-eyed, “That’s terrible.” 

Fina only shrugs though, “It didn’t matter. I did what had to be done. I cut off all my hair and started wearing boys' clothes. As long as I didn’t speak, he could pretend I was a boy. And I was able to complete my job.” 

“Fina, I would never need you to change for me,” Joe places his hand on top of hers, “Whoever that Warp Wizard was, he was an idiot. I think you’re great the way you are. I was just teasing you about your hair. I didn’t mean anything by it, I swear.” 

Fina slips her hand out from his and nods, “Thank you, sir. But if there anything you want me to change for you, please don’t hesitate to ask. I’m here to serve you.” 

“Um... you said that already. You say that a lot,” Joe chuckles awkwardly. Fina always gets super polite like this when he gets extra nice. It was like she was pushing him away or something because she was uncomfortable. 

But then Fina suddenly smiles and grabs his hand, giving it a brief squeeze, before letting go again. Joe smiles back and they ride the rest of the way to school a little less awkward. By the time they get off the bus, Joe is chatting like usual. Joking around with Fina until she makes that half-amused- half cringy face that he finds hilarious. 

“I just really think a magic club at school will be awesome!” He gushes, “On Friday’s we’ll wear top hats. Kind of like a club uniform. So, everyone knows who we are.” 

“Why not just carry stuffed rabbits with you?” She remarks dryly. 

“Actually, I was thinking live rabbits. Be authentic. And I didn’t forget about you.” 

“Me?” The faintest look of panic crosses her face, “What about me?” 

“I can’t forget about my loyal, faithful assistant. I was thinking a pair of really glitzy fishnets. And sequins all over your-” 

“Oh look, there’s Sam,” Fina interrupts him giving him a light, playful shove towards the lockers. 

Joe laughs and starts putting his stuff away, nodding to Sam as a greeting. Sam quickly puts his phone away and gives them a look. 

“What’s so funny?” He asks. 

“Nothing.” 

“I want to put Fina in sparkly fishnets.” 

They answer at the same time and Joe meets Fina’s look with a goofy grin. She rolls her eyes and goes back to getting stuff from her locker. 

“Good morning, Sam,” She says giving him a sweet smile. 

“Good morning, Fina,” Sam smiles back before giving Joe a look, “You weren’t telling her about your ridiculous top hat idea, were you?” 

There was a small clatter as Fina nearly drops her things and gives Sam an incredulous look, “He’s serious!?” 

“Yeah, it was an idea he had back in fifth grade,” Sam chuckles, “Fred and I barely managed to talk him out of it.” 

“I was never totally, one hundred percent serious,” Joe defends himself, “but still, you got to admit, it would have been kind of fun. If you people had any sort of humor.” 

“Who doesn’t have humor?” Fred walks up to them carrying his baseball equipment under one arm. 

“Joe is trying to resurrect his magicians’ club idea,” Sam explains, rolling his eyes. 

“Fina, please don’t let him do that,” He chuckles, “we’d never be able to hang out with him again. You’d be the only one who would.” 

“That’s my job,” She mutters dryly, leaving Joe to wonder what she meant. Did she mean that it was her job to stick by him no matter what, or to make sure that he doesn’t destroy his social life? 

He never gets a chance to ask because the bell rings and they all have to hurry to class. As they walk, Fred complains that his team potentially switching to early morning practices while Fina lags behind as usual. They make it to class before the teacher gets in and go to their assigned seats. Joe slouches at his desk and prepares for a long, long day of sitting and half-listening. The teacher comes in to prepare to start class before the bell rings, but Joe’s already tuned out. Without his friends or Fina, to distract him, his thoughts wander back to the visions he had last night. ` 

Cobblestones. A mob. A guillotine. People literally in line to be executed. Why in the world was Joe seeing it? What did any of it have to do with him? Was there something he was missing? It almost reminds him of when he had visions of the Tower of London. Those visions didn’t seem to have anything to do with him either, but there had been someone calling to him then. There was no one calling him in these visions though. It was like they were coming straight from a history book. 

The teacher’s voice drones on in front of Joe while his mind continues to wander. He wonders if he should tell Fina. She’s always talking about how much she’s here to serve him, but he doesn’t want to bother her over nothing. What if he was just having weird dreams? Joe feigns stretching so he can glance over his shoulder towards Fina. Her lips are turned down in a frown as Fred keeps leaning over to glance in her notebook and whisper something. She blows her bangs up in annoyance and nods, but surprisingly it’s Fred who pushes his notebook closer so that she can glance at it. Joe didn’t even know Fred took notes in class. 

“Mr. Arthur?” Mrs. Baxter’s sharp voice jolts his attention back to her. She stares at him in mild annoyance. “If seating you away from your friends is too distracting, I will be happy to make arrangements for you outside of the classroom.” 

The class snickers and Fina gives him a questioning look. Joe feels his ears burn and straightens up again. 

“Sorry, Mrs. B.” 

Mrs. Baxter turns around again to continue the lesson. Joe lets out a heavy breath. He waits for a beat, and even though it’s a risk, he stealthily pulls out his phone and checks it for messages. Still nothing, but he wonders if he should be the one to send a message first. He also wonders if all people with magic have weird dreams from time to time. Would it hurt to ask? Joe shakes his head and quickly stows his phone away. He’s getting ahead of himself again. Maybe a bad dream was just a bad dream. Even the terrible feeling that was so strong when he first woke up was fading. 

After the class finally ends, Joe suddenly finds Fina next to his desk as he’s packing up. 

“Are you alright, sir?” She asks quietly, “I saw you looking at me earlier. Did you need my assistance?” 

“No, no, I’m fine,” Joe dismisses her concern quickly. A couple of his classmates send smirks their way. “And I wasn’t looking at you in particular. I was just bored.” 

“Yeah, this class always puts me to sleep,” Fred mumbles so Mrs. Baxter won’t hear, “And Fina, you left your backpack at your desk.” 

Fina shoots him an annoyed look which he misses completely and goes back to her desk to pack up her things. 

“You better be careful getting too distracted in class,” Sam warns Joe, “You know Mrs. Baxter has never been your biggest fan.” 

“It’s no big deal. I’ll be fine. Ready, Fina?” 

Fina is by his side again and nods. They all leave the classroom together but Fred and Sam go one way while Joe and Fina go the other way. Joe can feel Fina watching him. He smiles at her but he can tell that she’s suspicious. Exactly why he didn’t tell her about his dream. Why worry her over nothing? But she makes sure to sit right next to them during their next class and keeps sneaking looks at him from the corner of her eye. 

Joe does everything to avoid her inquisitive stares. He even takes notes to keep his eyes and hands busy. As the teacher drones on and on, his eyelids start dropping. He shifts a little to keep himself awake, sitting up straighter. Joe misses the next point on the whiteboard, and then the next, as his body starts slouching again. He gives up on taking notes and rests his chin on his hands. Last night’s sleeplessness is starting to catch up with him. It’s nothing Joe can’t deal with though. Not a problem at- 

_Everything is sepia-toned and fuzzy. A carriage waits outside loaded with luggage. Inside the house, two girls sit together wearing multi-tiered dresses. One girl pats the other girl’s hand and leaves. The other girl looks in her bag for something. She begins looking everywhere in the house, but whatever she’s looking for she’s just not finding it._

_The front door j_ _umps_ _in its frame_ _several times_ _as if someone was knocking hard. The girl whirls around just as the door is kicked in. A mob waits outside._

“Look out!” Joe screams, jolting awake. At the same time, the clock falls off the wall and crashes to the ground. 

The room goes dead silent before erupting into subdued giggles. The teacher glares hotly at Joe. 

“Mr. Arthur, I see that my class is too early for you,” He says with a fake friendly tone, “Maybe you can take a nice nap before school tomorrow morning in early morning detention.” 

Joe groans and sinks down into his seat as the teacher slaps the detention slip onto his desk. It’s beyond the embarrassment of this morning and the side of his face feels hot from Fina’s piercing gaze. He doesn’t even want to see what her expression is. 

“And since you find Mr. Arthur more interesting than my class, miss- miss- whatever your last name is, I’ll see you in afternoon detention tomorrow.” There’s another slap as the teacher no doubt slaps a detention notice on Fina’s desk too. 

The end of class can’t come fast enough. Joe manages to avoid Fina’s face the rest of the period but feels her walk particularly close to him as they head to lunch. Finally, he sighs and talks to her. 

“I know, I know. You don’t have to say-” 

“You should have told me.” 

“-it.” 

“You should have told me,” She repeats, her voice tight and thick, “You’re supposed to tell me these things.” 

“I know, I know,” Joe repeats, meaning it a little more. He risks a glance at her. Fina’s bangs hang over her eyes, but her mouth is clearly turned down. Joe looks away again and feels awful. He could kick himself for making her cry. “Look, I’ll tell you everything at lunch when we meet up with Fred and Sam.” 

“What do they have to do with this? This is between us.” 

“They’re my best friends. I tell them everything.” 

Fina’s mouth tightens more, into a thin line. Joe briefly grabs her hand and squeezes it in a silent apology. She doesn’t squeeze back. 

When they get to the cafeteria, Joe spots Fred right away and waves. Fred waves back and waits for them. 

“Here, go save us a table, lunch is on me today.” 

“I brought our lunches, sir.” 

“Then dessert is on me.” 

Fina doesn’t answer him but obediently goes to sit at their usual table. By the time Joe catches up to Fred in line, he’s giving Joe a knowing look. 

“Lover’s spat?” He asks, elbowing him in the ribs. 

“No,” Joe immediately shoots back with a blush, “But I did make her upset. Please don’t make a big deal out of seeing her all crying and stuff.” 

“Crying?” Fred gives him a confused look, “Dude, Fina looks pissed.” 

“Really?” Joe is genuinely surprised and turns to look at Fina. Sam is already sitting with her at their table and she’s smiling politely at something he’s saying, but still looks a little upset. Joe shakes his head, “No, you must need glasses. Fina’s not mad, she’s upset.” 

“No, you need glasses. When you two walked in together, I thought she was going to rip your head off in front of this whole cafeteria.” 

“Whatever. I need to talk to you guys about something a lot more serious when we get to the table.” 

They make it through the line and Joe takes a good look at Fina as they head to the table. Fred had to be wrong. Fina’s expression was as placid as ever. Until he and Fred sit down in front of them. She takes one glance at Joe and her eyes blaze for a hot second before she lowers them again. Joe swallows. Maybe she was just a little angry. 

“So, Fina tells me that you got them both detentions,” Sam says with a half playful frown. 

Okay, maybe a lot, a little angry. 

“Yeah, it’s a long story,” Joe sighs, “You see, I had this weird dream last night.” 

As he tells them about the dream he had last night, and the brief one he had in class, Fred and Sam seem only half-interested while Fina listens with rapt attention. She doesn’t even touch her lunch. By the time Joe finishes, she’s frowning at him with a look nothing short of disappointed. 

“You really should have told me this earlier,” She says sternly, “Is that why you were at my door at four in the morning?” 

“You were at her door at four in the morning?” Sam arches an eyebrow. 

“Joe, you dog, you,” Fred chuckles. 

“It’s not like that!” Joe’s cheeks explode with heat. 

“You do know that I live with the Warp Wizard, right!?” Fina snaps, shocking all three of them into silence. Since when does Fina snap? “And when Joe becomes one someday, I’ll be living with him too. Just like it’s always been okay!?” 

After she’s done, the three of them just stare at her. Joe is beyond surprised. He knew she would be living with him until the old Warp Wizard came back, but he had no idea that living with her would be a permanent situation. Didn’t he get a say in who he lived with? 

“So...” Sam says to break the tense silence, “these visions. Crazy huh? Guess we’re going to leave them at that right?” 

“That’s entirely up to Joe,” Fina takes a breath. Her cheeks are flushed but her expression is neutral again. “It’s up to you if you think you should pursue this or not.” 

“Not!” Sam jumps in quickly with a look of panic, “It sounds like Joe had a vision or dream or whatever of a war. That’s literally the opposite of what we should get involved in.” 

Joe shifts uncomfortably in his seat. Even though Sam pretty much echoed his earlier thoughts exactly, the second vision left him with a feeling that he couldn’t shake. The figures had been vague at best, but he had felt such a strong feeling of terror and urgency, he just couldn’t explain it. Was he supposed to save the girl in particular? What about the other people waiting in line for the guillotine? He hadn’t felt the urge to save any of them this strong. 

“I feel... like I’m missing something,” He realizes, “Like there something I should be getting but I’m not.” 

“So, what are you supposed to do when that happens?” Fred asks, “Wait for your next boring class and doze off again?” 

“Actually...” Joe bites his lip and pulls out his phone. He had been thinking about doing something for a few days now, he just didn’t know the right time to do it. “I was thinking about asking the Beauchenes for help.” 

“Why!?” Fina bursts out unexpectedly. “The Warp Wizard doesn’t need help.” 

“Well, I’m not the Warp Wizard yet,” Joe says off-handedly. He starts his text. 

**_Hey, it’s Joe. How’ve you been? I was wondering if I could ask you something?_ **

“Who are the Beauchenes?” Fred asks, starting to sound interested again. 

“This elite magic family that said I could ask for their help anytime I needed it. The daughter read my palm once and... it was kind of cool.” Joe smiles at the memory. It hadn’t been so much what she said, but the warm feeling he got when she said it. 

“Palm reading?” Sam scoffs though, “No offense but it sounds even hokier than your magic.” 

“Well, it’s not.” Joe frowns and starts his text over. “She’s the real deal. And she might be able to help me with my visions.” 

**_Hey Jay, it’s Joe. Thought I’d hear from you_ ** **_by_ ** **_know so I just wanted to say hey. When can I see you again?_ **

“Or, better option, you could meditate and get access more of your vision that way,” Fina suggests. 

“Pfft, meditation sounds boring,” Fred rolls his eyes, “I say we go with this Beauchene chick. Maybe she’s as big as a magic dork as Joe.” 

“She’s definitely not a dork about anything,” Joe mummers and erases his text again before starting a new one. 

**_Hey, it’s Joe. Seeing you again was really cool, but I could use your help. Can I come over today?_ **

“Oh, will you just send the text already?” Fred reaches over and presses send for him. 

“Fred! I wasn’t sure if I wanted to send that one!” 

But then a few short seconds later, he gets a text back. 

**_Fina, if Joe wants another meeting with my father then tell him to please call Jasper and make an appointment._ **

Joe rolls his eyes and texts back, **_Actually, it is Joe. My assistant doesn’t do everything for me, you know._ **

**_I’m surprised. My father is out on business, but I suppose I can make time for you this afternoon._ **

“Sweet, she can see me this afternoon,” Joe breathes a sigh of relief he didn’t even know he was holding. “Guess I’ll stop by after school and see her.” 

“Cool, we’ll tag along too,” Fred says slinging an arm around Sam, “We’ll see how much of a “not dork” this girl is.” 

“You two are coming?” For some reason, Joe forgot they totally would want to come along. He guesses it would be alright. If he really was going to start working with Joleena, she’d better get used to his friends now. 

Joe glances up and sees Fina staring at him. Her expression is unreadable. Her earlier outburst hadn’t completely escaped him either. He’s actually kind of flattered that she believes in him that much. 

“It’ll be fine,” he tells her confidently, “trust me. I’ll learn all that meditation and stuff later. But if this can help me get to the bottom of my visions faster, maybe this is the better option.” 

Fina holds his gaze for a long moment before smiling back, “Whatever you say, sir.” 

* * *

The rest of the school day drags on and on in an endless haze. Joe flips back and forth between excited and nervous. Nervous to know what his visions might mean. Excited to get some clarity on them. If things do come to a warp, for once he might not be totally clueless. And... maybe it might be cool to see more of Joleena’s magic in action. Especially without her intimidating giant of a father staring him down. 

When the last bell finally does ring, Joe practically sweeps his stuff into his backpack and impatiently waits for Fina to pack up too. She doesn’t say anything as they meet Fred and Sam by the lockers, or even during the incredibly long sub ride to the Beauchenes’ neck of the woods. Actually, come to think of it, she hadn’t said a word to him since lunch. Part of him wants to ask her if she was ok, but it would be awkward with Fred and Sam around. But another part of him is too wrapped up in his own thoughts. 

Eventually, they reach the Beauchenes’ front door. Fred and Sam have on the same slack-jawed expression he no doubt had on when he first saw the house. Even Sam had stopped complaining about the dirty sub ride. 

“Cool, huh?” Joe grins ringing the doorbell. 

“Dude, you can get this loaded doing magic tricks?” Fred gapes, “You’d never know seeing to your Uncle Joe’s apartment.” 

“Hey!” 

Joe rings the doorbell again and as the classical tune fades, he hears footsteps on the other side. The door swings open and Joleena stands on the other side looking the most casual as Joe has ever seen her. Instead of her usual business-y attire, she’s wearing a light, flowy shirt dress. And she must be in a great mood because she’s actually smiling at Joe like she’s glad to see him. 

“Bonjour, Jos- oh,” Joleena’s expression falls into one of surprise though when she sees everyone else around him, “Bonjour... everyone?” 

“Um, yeah,” Joe laughs and rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. He totally forgot to warn her that he was bringing his friends. “Joleena, this is Fred and Sam. Fred and Sam, this is Joleena.” 

“Oh oui, I remember now," Joleena nods smiling again, "Fred and Sam. The friends who always get you in trouble when you warp." 

Sam and Fred shoot a glare at Joe as he laughs sheepishly, "Um no, what I said was they get in trouble _with_ me when I warp." 

"But if course," Joleena giggles and opens the door wider, “ _entrez_ _,_ _s'il-vous-plaît_ _._ ” 

“That means come in,” Joe whispers to the others as they follow her inside. 

“I think we got it, Joe,” Fred whispers sarcastically back. 

As Joleena leads them through the marble entryway, her high heels are nearly silent while everyone else’s sneakers squeak loudly. Joe inwardly cringes at the loud, echoing noise. He's both annoyed and embarrassed. He refuses to be ashamed if he and his friends stuck out in her overly polished, stuffy house. But still, maybe they should have taken their shoes off at the door. He glances at Joleena to see if she’s annoyed and sees that she is grimacing a little. 

Sam suddenly yelps and jumps into Fred as they pass the very painting that startled Joe. 

“ _Mes_ _excuses,”_ Joleena giggles, her face relaxing a little, “It is not often I have normies in my home.” 

“Normies?” 

“Yes, people without magical abilities. Do you prefer a different nomenclature?” 

“No... just Sam is fine,” Sam smiles at her but does shoot Joe a mildly annoyed look. 

“Of course. Sam, it is.” Joleena gives him a dazzling smile that seems to wipe the annoyance right off of Sam’s face. 

Instead of the same living room, Joe was in earlier, Joleena leads them into a much less formal, more normal room. It was still expensive-looking room though, with thick off-white carpets, a glass top coffee table sitting on shiny silver legs, and snow-white sectional couches, and big windows letting in a lot of light. 

What really surprises Joe though is that sitting on the coffee table is a platter of those round sandwich cookies that come in different colors, and a pitcher of lemonade flanked by two glasses. He smiles feeling a bit smug, but also a bit guilty. If he isn’t mistaken, he would almost think she set all this up for just the two of them. 

"Did you bake these yourself?” Fred makes himself right at home on the couch and grabs a cookie, cramming one into his mouth. “These are awesome!” 

“ _Merci_ , but no, I don’t cook. I had the chef prepare these before he left. But I see that I might be short,” She tosses Joe a brief pointed look before looking away again, “But no matter, I can make do.” 

She waves her arm creating a glow over everything, and the tray of cookies increase into a multi-tiered tray overflowing with cookies, the pitcher of lemonade turns into two, and the two glasses triple into six glasses. Fred sputters and nearly chokes on the cookie he’s eating, Sam jumps in surprise, and Joe feels just the tiny bit jealous. Fred and Sam hardly ever react to his magic tricks. She is definitely showing off on purpose. 

“So,” He says taking a seat on one of the couches, “can I tell you what I need your help with now, or did you want to perform a few more parlor tricks for my friends?” 

Joleena’s smug smile falls into a pout of annoyance and she sits next to Joe. Fina sits on the other side of her and Sam sits on the couch next to Fred. 

“Yes, how may I be of service to you, Warp Wizard Joseph,” Joleena says with an air of lofty formality. 

“Well, Lady Beauchene,” Joe shoots back, “I’ve been having some... dreams or visions and they feel urgent, but it also feels like they’re not complete. I was wondering if you had maybe a spell or something to help, I don’t know, conjure them up or something.” 

“Hmm...” Joleena hums for a minute and looks away, her lips pursed in thought. She actually looks mildly interested, “It sounds simple enough. I suppose I can lend you my talents. _Pardon,_ I’ll be back momentarily.” 

She waves an arm over herself and disappears in a cloud of sparkles. Fred applauds and Joe shoots him a dirty look. 

“Fred, it wasn’t that impressive,” Sam rolls his eyes, “We’ve literally warped in green mist hundreds of times.” 

“Yeah, but it was mostly accidents,” Fred crams another cookie into his mouth, “Besides, I’ve never seen Joe or his uncle do that before.” 

“Joe’s the master of time and space. He doesn’t need to do meaningless stuff like that,” Fina speaks for the first time since lunch and she sticks up for Joe. 

“Thank you, Fina,” Joe flashes her a grateful grin. 

“Yeah, well, Joe might be able to master time and space- eventually,” Fred chuckles at the last part, “But Joleena is like, the hottest girl I’ve ever seen. So it’s a lot cooler when she does magic.” 

Sam chokes on his lemonade, Fina barely blinks, and Joe feels his entire face burn. 

“What!? What does that have anything to do with anything!?” 

“Face it, dude, she just looks better doing magic. Sometimes, you look kind of desperate.” 

Before Joe strangle him, Joleena returns in a flash of light with her arms full of glass jars, wooden boxes, and a ceramic bowl. 

“I’m back,” She announces setting her stuff on the table. She extends the bowl to Fina without turning around, “Fiona, can you go into the kitchen and pour some water into this bowl, s _'il_ _vous_ _plaît?”_

Fina’s eyes narrow and Joe feels more than a little annoyed, still feeling ruffled from Fred’s comment. 

“Her name’s Fina,” He corrects her firmly. 

“Right, Fina,” Joleena tosses a smile over her shoulder at her, “ _désolé.”_

Fina says nothing and doesn’t move until Joe catches her eye and nods. Only then does Fina stand and go through a different door into what Joe assumes is the kitchen and comes back out and hands Joleena a bowl of water. 

“ _Merci.”_

Joleena sounds sincere as she gives Fina one of her dazzling smiles, but Fina barely nods in acknowledgment. Joleena’s smile falls only a fraction before she starts. She takes silver powder from one box and adds it to the water, turning it into what looks like liquid mercury. Then she takes what looks like green, fuzzy noodles out of a jar and adds them too, tinting the liquid orange. She doesn’t bother explaining anything to Joe, but he watches her carefully. Fred and Sam crane their necks to see, but Fina stays rooted to the spot. Flower petals, green sand, yellow flecks, and wispy white things that look like pulled cotton balls all go into the water turning it various shades and colors until it becomes cloudy with blue, green, and yellow luminescent swirls. Joe tries hard not to show just how impressed he is. 

“Now to heat,” Joleena declares. 

She holds the bowl between her hands and closes her eyes. Red light seeps from beneath her palms and the liquid soon starts to bubbles and steam rises from the surface. 

“There,” Joleena opens her eyes sounding tired. The red glow abates and the liquid stops bubbling, but the steam remains. She holds the bowl out to Joe, “It’s ready.” 

Joe swallows and cautiously takes the bowl from her. It’s really warm but not hot. When he starts to tilt it towards his mouth though, Joleena exclaims and hits his arm. 

“Don’t drink it!” She cries in alarm, “Do you want to go into a coma for a month? You’re only supposed to inhale the steam! Have you no experience with dream recollection spells?” 

“That’s literally why I came to you, Joleena!” Joe yells angrily. 

He stops himself from yelling at her more and quickly inhales the smoke. 

“Not so fast!” Joleena cries out but it’s too late. 

Joe feels himself already swaying and his eyes refuse to stay open. He feels a pair of hands gently guiding his down and- 

_Everything is_ _in bright clear focus_ _. A carriage waits outside loaded with luggage. Inside the house,_ _Jodie_ _sit_ _s with another girl a few years older than her._ _They’re both_ _wearing multi-tiered dresses._ _The woman_ _pats the other_ _Jodie’s_ _hand and leaves._ _Jodie_ _looks in her bag for something_ _and her expression transitions from puzzled, to worried, to downright panicked_ _._ _She begins looking everywhere in the house, but whatever she’s looking for she’s just not finding it._

_The front door jumps in its frame several times as if someone was knocking hard._ _Jodie_ _whirls around just as the door is kicked in. A mob waits outside._ _They grab Jodie kicking and screaming outside. She’s forced into a cart where other innocent, unfortunate people who only had the bad luck of being wealthy wait to be taken to the_ _guillotine_ _._

“Jodie! No!” Joe cries shooting up. 

He’s on the floor now with a pillow under him and Fina hovering over him protectively. 

“Jodie?” Fred and Sam jump up in alarm too, “What happened with Jodie?” 

“She’s in trouble, France, French Revolution.” Joe doesn’t know how he knows, but he knows exactly where and when she is. He goes to his backpack and starts rifling through it for The Book. “I have to go get her!” 

“Wait! You’re going to the French Revolution!?” Sam panics, “You can’t go to the French Revolution! You’ll get yourself killed.” 

“I agree with your friend,” Joleena speaks up, “If this Jodie needs rescuing you should contact someone better equipped to go rescue her in your stead.” 

Sam nods vigorously but Joe stops in his tracks and glares at her. 

“What do you mean, better equipped? I’m plenty equipped!” He brandishes The Book at her. 

“Oh please,” Joleena rolls her eyes and waves dismissively, “You told me yourself that you almost always get yourself in trouble with that thing. And didn’t you also say that you have almost no control of your magic.” 

“Joe has plenty of control over his magic,” Fina speaks up in her quiet, yet sharp way, “You have no idea what he can do.” 

“Yes, thank you, Fina!” 

“What he can do, is nothing short of cute tricks. If he’s going into a- a revolution he should at least be able to perform much more serious spells!” 

“You have no idea what I can do!” Joe yells. 

“Well, a rescue mission certainly isn’t the time to prove me wrong!” Joleena yells back. 

“I don’t need your advice!” 

“Then why did you ask me for help!?” 

“Um, guys?” Sam tries to speak up, but Joe barely hears him. 

“I have no idea! I have everything I need right here!” 

“You’re going to get yourself killed with that thing!” 

“Guys...” Fred tries speaking up next. 

“What do you know about rescuing people anyway!?” Joe continues to yell though, “You’re just some pampered, sheltered, magic elitist-” 

“At least I actually study my magic!” 

“GUYS!” Fred and Sam yell. 

“WHAT!?” Joe and Joleena yell back. 

But Joe glances at The Book and gasps. Both The Book and his hand clutching The Book are glowing green. Joleena gasps too. Purple sparks and green sparks crackle around her hands in random bursts as well as around The Book. 

“What are you doing!?” Joleena shakes her hands as if trying to shake off the sparks, “Stop this immediately Joseph!” 

“Me!?” Joe starts swiping at the air around The Book as if trying to shoo away the purple sparks. “You’re clearly the one doing this!” 

“I am not!” 

“You are too!” 

“Am not!” 

“Are too!” 

“AM NOT!” 

“ARE TOO!” 

The sparks begin to grow in brightness and intensity as they yell louder and louder. 

“WHY CAN’T YOU CONTROL YOURSELF!” They both yell. 

The Book bursts open and blinding green light floods the room in a flash flood, carrying all of them through time and space. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short one but I wanted to get another chapter out before the new year. Maybe shorter chapters will help me update more frequently and consistently.

The rippling, swirling  green mist roughly dumps them onto hard cobblestone streets. Joe feels his stomach lurch dangerously. It’s been a while since he’s warped, especially a warp this rough. It was almost as if the mist threw them out. Joe groans as he picks himself up rubs his bruised elbow and looks over at his friends.

“Is everyone okay?”

“Yeah, we’re good,” Fred says helping up Sam. 

Fina nods and immediately slides her hand under his to heal his elbow. 

“No! I am  _ not _ okay!”  Joleena yells angrily and struggles to stand. Her face is flushed and  she’s glaring daggers at Joe , “I can’t believe you had the audacity to- Ahh!”  She collapses as she tries to put weight on her foot.

“ Joleena !” Joe rushes over to help her up, “ What’s wrong?”

Joleena hisses as she carefully stands on one leg, leaning on Joe for support, “I think I landed on my ankle wrong.”

“Fina, can you-”

Before Joe can finish asking, Fina is already bending down to lay her hand on  Joleena’s ankle. While she does that, Joe takes a quick look around to make sure they aren’t in any immediate danger. The streets are... surprisingly quiet. Early afternoon sunlight lights up the streets. Only a few people are walking around wearing the fancy clothing Joe saw in his vision. But where were the mobs of angry people? 

When Fina finishes,  Joleena thanks her with a sigh, lowering her leg and letting go of Joe’s arm in the process. 

“Now,”  Joleena brings his attention back to her, “I know this rescue mission is important to you, but if you don’t mind sending me back-”

“Right, um, about that,” Joe rubs the back of his neck, “My great-granddaughter probably has it now. You see The Book can’t really be in two places at once.”

“What!?”  Joleena's expression becomes panicked and Joe almost feels sorry for  her. Almost. “Can’t you use what little magic you have and  conjuror it up or something?”

“Sorry, I can’t do that with what little magic I have,” He says sarcastically.

“Well, what about your assistant then?”

Fina shakes her head, giving her a bland smile. 

“So, we’re stuck here!?”  Joleena’s voice goes up an octave, “In the middle of  _ la  _ _ révolution _ _!?  _ _ C'est _ _ insensé!” _

“ Let’s just all calm down, okay?” Sam says sounding pretty close to hyperventilating, “We’ll just do what we always do; try and find The Book in a super dangerous time period before we get killed!” He ends up  shrieking the last part. 

“By what?” Fred demands, looking around, “There’s literally nothing going on right now.”

Joe hates to admit it, but he’s right. His earlier panicked adrenaline is quickly fading as absolutely nothing happens. But he knows what he saw. And there’s a feeling deep in his gut that he’s right. 

“I know this looks bad. Or, I guess, good,” He starts, “But I also know what I saw. There was a huge mob of angry people knocking down doors and dragging people to the execution block.”

“Oh yeah, it’s really terrible out here,” Fred mumbles sarcastically and shrugs, “Maybe we’re a few years early. You could have touched the wrong page in The Book. ”

“See, you made a mistake,”  Joleena gives Joe a pointed look, “Just admit it so we can find your book and get out of here.”

“I didn’t make a mistake! At least... I don’t think I did.”

“He didn’t make a mistake,” Fina insists and looks at Joe, “Don’t worry about what they say. How do you feel?”

Joe bites his lip and looks away for a minute. He tries to remember what Uncle Joe told him about trusting his __ _ magicae _ __ _ interiorem _ _.  _ There was supposed to be a sort of instinct he could tap into. Something about using his time magic to help him know and guide the future. But so far, he had only learned how to meditate in an attempt to bring it out. He hadn’t actually used it before. 

“Joe,” Fina gives his arm a gentle, but firm squeeze, “Just relax. You can do this.”

He looks at her and finds that her blue eyes are earnest and deep. Joe finds himself smiling and nodding before taking a deep breath and closes his eyes. The sound of Fred impatiently asking what he’s doing and Fina’s sharp shushing fades to the background. He pushes away all the doubt, all the insecurities, all of the second-guessing of his magic. What’s left is something warm and swirling within him. And then he sees it. An image over an image. These are the streets he saw the mobs march through. Fred was right, they are early but only by a day. Joe isn’t just guessing either, he knows this for a fact. And he knows where exactly where Jodie is. 

“I know where Jodie is!” Joe gives  Joleena a triumphant, pointed look, “I know what I’m doing Lady Beauchene. You’re welcome to tag along with us if you want. But we’re going to go rescue my great-granddaughter.”

“How could you possibly know where Jodie is?” Sam, as usual, is skeptical, “And please don’t say you just know.”

“Okay, I won’t. Let’s go. I want to get there before dark.”

“Go where exactly?”  Joleena demands.

“This way,” Joe indicates the general direction where he knows the house is, “Past these shops, just on the outside of town. It’s actually not that far.”

“And you expect me to walk in these heels,”  Joleena gives a short laugh, “Non, I have a better idea.”

She turns on her heel and walks in the other direction. Joe impatiently calls after her but she ignores him. 

“She’s kind of... high  maintenance, isn’t she?” Fred mumbles to Joe out of the side of his mouth. 

“And that’s putting it lightly,” Joe sighs, “Should we leave her behind and come back for her later?”

“Or never?” Fred snickers and even Sam smiles a little.

But then they watch as  Joleena heads over to a carriage dropping off a wealthy-looking couple in front of a shop. After the couple goes inside,  Joleena says something to the driver who shakes his head. Joleena makes a motion with her hand and blows something in his face. The man looks dazed for a moment before nodding and hopping down to open the door of the carriage for  Joleena . With the same dazed movements, he climbs back on his seat in front and drives the cart over to them. When the driver reaches them, he hops down and Joe can see a bright blue ring around both of his irises. He bows to Joe and opens the carriage door.

“Where to,  _ monsieur?”  _ He asks in a monotone voice. 

“Whoa,” Joe can’t help but be impressed, “What did you do?”

“Besides break  essential time travel rules?” Fina mumbles. 

“I merely preformed a temporary enchantment,”  Joleena tosses her hair, “You didn’t think I’d actually walk all that way, did you?”

Fred eagerly climbs inside and leans back with ease, “High maintenance or not, you sure are useful to have around.”

“Pardon?”

“He means ‘good idea’,” Sam quickly translates. 

“But still against basic time travel rules,” Fina repeats, “Lady Beauchene, you can’t display your magic like that. It’s dangerous and banned for a reason.”

“Not use my magic?”  Joleena actually looks offended, “Asking a Beauchene not to use their magic is like asking them not to breathe.”

“Then I guess you should start holding your breath,” Joe sighs, “because I think Fina’s right. Your magic would make us stick out too much. I should know, my magic has gotten us in trouble before.”

“That’s because you couldn’t do magic before,” Fred puts in. 

“Um, guys, I think we should get going,” Sam gestures to the shop, “Before the real owners of this carriage show up.”

The rest of them pile into the carriage and Joe gives general directions to the cab driver.  And as much as he  sort of hates to admit it,  Joleena enchanting the carriage driver was a pretty good idea. The carriage ambles along the streets, vibrating gently over the cobblestones. 

Joe’s feeling pretty confident for an accidental warp. For the first time in a while, he actually knows what he’s doing. And even better, he was able to use his magic to get somewhere. True  Joleena may have used showier magic to get them a ride, but they wouldn’t even know where to go if it wasn’t for him. Although come to think of it, Joe may not even have known what to do if it wasn’t for Fina. She was really coming through for him lately. No wonder why she had been the Warp Wizard’s assistant for so long. 

He looks across the carriage and smiles at her, but she’s staring out the window. Joe follows her gaze and sees something unusual. T he occasional carriage  they do pass  rushes by them instead of ambling along at an easy pace like they are. Even though it isn’t getting close to dark yet, shops seem to be closing early. It’s almost as if the town as actively being  deserted .

“The  city sure is quiet,” Joe mumbles. 

“ _ Oui,  _ and I’m sure your granddaughter is in urgent need of rescue.”

“Oh, will you give it a rest, Lady Beauchene?”

“Only when I’m safe in my correct time, Warp Wizard Jo s e ph .”

“I’m not listening to them fight the entire time,” Sam whispers angrily to Fred. 

“I don’t think we have a choice,” Fred chuckles. 

After a short, thankfully uneventful ride, they arrive at the big house Joe saw in his vision.  But what he didn’t see was several carriages being loaded with luggage and the liveried servants carrying bags. 

“It looks like they’re moving,” Fred points out, “Are you sure we have the right place?”

“Pretty sure,” Joe climbs out of the carriage and helps Fina out, “Hopefully that means we’re early.” 

He helps  Joleena out and Fred and Sam follow on their own. Once they’re all out the carriage driver, still in a haze, drives the carriage back the way they came. By now the sun is lower causing the houses to cast long shadows across the streets. The gate is open so they walk right in and up to the front door. 

“Can I help you, monsieur?” One of the servants, call out before Joe can knock. 

“Uh, yeah, I’m here to see my... friend,” Joe explains . “it’s really, really important that I talk to her.”

“But of course, your calling card,  _ s'il _ __ _ vous _ __ _ plaît _ _ ,”  _ The servant moves between them and the door and holds out a gloved hand. 

Joe fumbles, knowing he doesn’t have anything to give him until  Joleena scoffs impatiently and brushes him aside. 

“ _ Excusez-moi _ _ , monsieur,”  _ Joleena flips her hair importantly, “My footman is  vexedly forgetful in even the most basic of protocol. I’d punish him severely, but I tend to be particularly tended hearted towards even the simplest of buffoons.”

“Hey!”

“Alas, he even talks back to his mistress. So insolent,”  Joleena snaps her fingers in his face stunning him into silence, “But it is of great importance that I speak with your mistress. Unless you too are an insolent servant as well.”

The man’s lip curls as he meets  Joleena’s haughty stare. For a minute, Joe’s sure that he’ll refuse to let them in, but he swings the door opens instead and bows to  Joleena . 

“This way,  _ mademoiselle,”  _ He drones leading the way inside, “Though your visit may be brief. Madam will be leaving shortly.”

He leads them into a sitting room. And just like in his vision, Jodie is wearing a multi-tiered dress and is sitting with a girl a few years older than her wearing a large, curly, white wig. Jodie looks shocked seeing them, but it was better than seeing her in front of a  guillotine . 

“Jodie!” Joe bursts out in relief, “I’m so glad we found you. Looks like we got here right in  time .” 

“In time for what?” Jodie eyes all of them in startled confusion.

“Fernand?” The girl raises an eyebrow looking mildly annoyed, “Who are these people interrupting our afternoon tea?”

“No one, Delphine,” Jodie says quickly, “Just a... relative and his friends.”

“And an uninvited guest,” Joe mutters shooting a look at  Joleena . He’s mostly joking but a brief look of hurt flashes in  Joleena’s eyes before she turns away with a flip of her hair. “Anyways, we came because I had  a... nightmare that you were in danger.”

“Um, does it look like I’m in danger?” Jodie gestures at the ritzy surroundings, “The only danger I’m in is of you ruining my vacation.”

“Jodie, this is serious! Or, at least it will be. Eventually.”

“Yeah it really is,” Jodie rolls her eyes and sips her tea, “I think my tea is getting cold. And you’re bothering us, so will you please just leave?”

“It is no matter,” Delphine dismisses with a wave, “I shall be departing this château shortly.”

“You’re leaving?” Jodie turns to her in surprise, “But I thought we were going shoe shopping tomorrow.”

Delphine sighs and stands up surprisingly easy for someone wearing a towering wig, “Oh, that would have been  _ magnifique _ , but alas dear Paris has become too dangerous. A handful of sulky servants have been causing quite a stir. So, I figured it was time for a change. I also have a lovely  château in the country. Away from sulky servants and their silly little  riots .”

She rings a bell on the table and a maid rushes over with a pair of gloves on a tray. While she puts them on, Joe shoots Jodie a triumphant look.

“See, she said riots. I was right to come here.”

“Oh please, she also called them silly and little. And I haven’t seen a thing.”

“Yeah, we didn’t see anything either,” Fred flops down on one of the couches and grabs a finger sandwich, “Maybe we already prevented whatever was supposed to happen.”

“But we didn’t do anything yet,” Sam points out.

“That’s just how good we are. We don’t even have to do anything to change history.”

“ So the problem is solved, you can take me home now, non?”  Joleena shoots Joe a glare, “I don’t appreciate being dragged here as an uninvited guest.”

“You  _ dragged _ Lady Beauchene on a warp?” Now it’s Jodie’s turn to glare at Joe, “Are you trying to get banned from magic?”

“Madam Delphine,” The servant that showed them in calls from the front door, “The carriage is waiting to depart. If we leave now you will arrive at your country abode by  morning .”

“Thank you, Fernand,” Delphine’s maid finishes putting tying a hooded cape over her shoulders, “Are you and the other servants ready to follow separately?”

“Yes Madam, everyone is awaiting your orders to leave post-haste.”

“You’re taking all the servants?” Jodie’s face falls in disappointment, “What am I supposed to do?”

“Just travel with your relative and his companions. I'm sure he won't mind sharing his servants,” Delphine shrugs casually. 

Jodie sighs and stands up grabbing her bag. She shoots Joe an annoyed look.  “Are you satisfied? My French vacation is over. I might as well go home now.”

“You won’t find The Book in there,” Joe folds his arms knowingly even as the dread begins to build.

“What are you talking about? Of course- hey,” Jodie’s annoyance turns into alarm as she begins to search more frantically, “Where is it? I know I just had it. Where’s  The Book?”

“Oh la, of course! I knew I was forgetting something!” Delphine giggles and playfully taps her own forehead, “I sold your little book to a revolutionist for safe passage.”

“You what!?” Joe and Jodie both shout. 

Joe knew The Book would be missing, but even he didn’t expect this. 

“ _ Oui _ , while I was at the wig makers , he told me that one of those nasty little mobs might head my way,” Delphine rolls her eyes like it wasn’t as big as a deal as it clearly is. “So, I sold your book to have money for safe passage. One has to have bribes, you know.”

“You sold my book!?” Jodie’s face flushes, “I told you that that was an important family heirloom! What gives you the right to take it and sell it?”

“Well, what’s more important, dear, my life or one little heirloom?” Delphine smiles and bats her eyes, “Now I really must be going. Ta-ta dear, and try to be safe. If you make it to the country, stop by and have a cup of tea and some cake.”

With a final wave to Jodie, she takes her maid and bounces out the front door slamming it shut on her way out. Joe can’t help but shoot Jodie a boastful look. 

“Now aren’t you glad we came?”


	6. Chapter 6

“Now aren’t you glad we came?” 

“Do you have The Book?” 

Joe’s smug smile immediately falls, “... no.” 

“Well then no,” Jodie sighs in exasperation and flops back on the couch, “Now what are we supposed to do? Go door to door and ask about The Book?” 

“What choice do we have?” Sam nervously looks around as if he expects a mob to storm the living room any minute. “You heard that lady, a mob might be on their way here right now!” 

“I doubt it,” Fred scoffs, “The city was practically dead on the way over here. That lady’s wig might just be on too tight.” 

Sam starts arguing about taking Jodie’s friend’s warning seriously and Fred starts arguing about not jumping into panic mode right away. Joe lets their argument fall to the background and tries to think. Everyone seems to already have forgotten about his vision being right so far. At least part of it. Jodie having no idea that The Book was missing or that her friend was ditching her. The quiet streets seem to have lulled everyone into a false sense of security. Sam is the only one who seems to be concerned right now, but Joe knows that if he was really freaking out he would be... freaking out. 

Feeling at a temporary loss, Joe looks around for Fina. She’s standing apart from everyone else, as usual, peering out of the window. 

“Fina,” Joe approaches her quietly and stands behind her, “Any thoughts?” 

Fina doesn’t jump or turn around. Silently, she inclines her head, nodding out the window. Joe moves closer to see what she wants him to see. When he does, he draws in a sharp breath. Even though the sun is setting behind them, there is also a distant orange glow in front of them towards the city. Smoke rises in increasing plumes. 

“Whatever happens,” Fina says quietly, almost whispering, “You’ll be safe with me, sir.” 

Despite their situation, Joe can’t help but smile a little as he turns to tell the others. By now Jodie has joined in Fred and Sam’s discussion, berating them for not learning how to hold on to The Book. The only one not talking is Joleena, who Joe catches quickly turning away from him. He briefly wonders if she has been watching him and Fina the entire time, but he quickly pushes the thought from his mind. Now wasn’t the time to think about that. 

“Guys,” Joe says loud enough to get everyone’s attention, “Whatever we do, we have to do it quickly. Something is happening in the city and I doubt it’s anything good. Maybe it’s time for you to change out of that dress Jodie.” 

“It took two maids to put me into this dress!” 

“I’ll help her,” Fina says before Joe even has to ask. 

The two of them disappear up the stairs while Fred and Sam make their way to the window. One glance outside and Fred is ready to jump into action. 

“So yeah, we should probably book it out of here as soon as possible. Where do we look for The Book first?” He asks. 

“Anywhere but here,” Sam says quickly, “During the French Revolution, the poor working-class revolted against the rich, noble, upper class with no discrimination. If we’re caught in a house like this, they’ll arrest us for sure.” 

“Well we don’t exactly look rich,” Fred gestures to his jeans with a hole in one knee, “So maybe we can blend in with the lower class.” 

Joleena scoffs but doesn’t offer any ideas herself. After a minute Jodie and Fina come back down the stairs with Jodie in her regular clothes. Once everyone is ready to go they pretty much sneak out of the house, hoping that they won’t be spotted. They were only in the house for a short time, but already things have changed. Parts of the city are definitely on fire. The crash of broken windows echoes through the streets. 

“So where are we supposed to go now?” Sam asks, “Staying in the house is too dangerous.” 

“We’ll think of something,” Joe says, “Let’s just start walking for now. Maybe someone who isn’t rioting will take us in until it’s all over. Just like when Brooklyn goes through a blackout.” 

“That used to happen in your time?” Jodie shudders, “I thought that only happened during the dark ages.” 

Fred laughs as her unintentional pun and they start walking. Joe knows it isn’t the best plan, but it’s the only thing he can think of at the movement. All he knows is that he doesn’t want to be in that house when the mob gets there. By the looks of his vision, they didn’t seem like they were the listening types. At least he got Jodie out of there in time. It’s a good sign. If Joe can do that no problem, then finding The Book might be easy too. 

Unfortunately, getting to Jodie was a lot less work than getting back to the city. The carriage ride had taken maybe all of fifteen minutes. Getting back to the city takes over an hour. By the time they do make it to the first stores, the city is in full riot mode. Smoke hangs thick in the air, stinging their eyes and burning their throats. But the way people are cheering and marching through the streets, you would think it was a parade instead of a riot. 

“Down with the royal family!” A man runs by them waving an apron like a flag, “Let the dauphine eat cake now!” 

Fred gives a low whistle and steps aside as two guys close to their age run buy with smoldering storefront signs, “Man check out this action. It’s like when the Yankees blew that game against the Red Sox.” 

“Except this is actually about more serious than sports,” Sam carefully steps around broken glass. “Even though Marie Antoinette never told her starving subjects ‘let them eat cake’, the wealth gap between the rich and the poor was extreme. Eventually, the lower class just got tired of feeling ignored.” 

“Not that this history lesson isn’t... fascinating,” Joleena cuts in, “But I’d rather not be in the middle of it. Can you please use your magic, any magic to find your little book and get us home, _s'il_ _vous_ _plaît_?” 

She isn’t looking at Joe, even though she’s clearly talking to him, and that annoys him even more. What’s worse is that he doesn’t exactly know how to use his magic to find his Book. In retrospect, that probably should have been the first thing he learned. But now everyone is looking at him to tell them where to go next. 

“Can’t,” He admits grudgingly, “This is as far as my vision shows. But we’ve found The Book before without magic. We could split up a little and ask around.” 

“And we all know how well that goes,” Joleena mumbles. 

“Look, Lady Beauchene,” Joe snaps, “This is just where we are now. The best thing we can do is ask around and see if anyone’s seen The Book, or knows someone who does.” 

Joleena purses her lips and Joe braces himself for her argument or downright refusal but she only rolls her eyes. 

“Fine,” she mumbles walking away. 

“I’ll go with her,” Joe decides, “Don’t go too far though. Everyone seems like they’re in a good mood, but it’s still pretty dangerous.” 

The others split up into groups of two and fan out a little. Joe hurries to catch up with Joleena before he loses her in the crowd. The last thing they need is for her to show her magic again and risk getting burned at the stake for witchcraft or something. He finds her talking to a couple of beefy looking women. Joe slows down, getting close enough to listen but not close enough to get involved. Now Joleena can see that it isn’t so easy impressing people without her oh-so-incredible magic. 

“Well look what we have here,” One of the women chuckle in a not so nice way, “A squant fille speaking the queen’s french.” 

Joleena looks taken aback, “ _Excusez-moi_?” 

“Oooh, e _xcusez-moi_ _,_ she says,” The other woman mocks, “Sounds like we got a noble lady on our hands.” 

"One that flaunts her gold,” The first woman shoots a meaty hand out and grabs Joleena by the wrist, right under her gold bracelets, “Hand it over sweetie, if you want to keep your arm.” 

“Absolutely not!” Joleena snatches her arm back, “I’ll have you know my father gave me these bracelets.” 

“The only thing my father gave me is a job in the shop,” the woman snarls, “But you wouldn’t know a thing about hard work would you?” 

The second woman pulls a meat mallet out of her apron. “Now, if you’ll just hand over those bracelets like a good little lady.” 

“Leave her alone!” Joe rushes forward without thinking and puts himself between them and Joleena. “We’re just passing through. Go back to your riot.” 

The two women stare him down for a tense moment. Joe can feel his heart pound in his chest but he doesn’t back down. He does try to call up some magic though just in case things go south. Fortunately for both of them though, a group of drunk looters stumbles between them, giving Joe the chance to grab Joleena’s hand and pull her away. 

“Let go of me!” Joleena snatches her hand from his. “I didn’t need your help! I could have taken care of myself!” 

“Well, then next time-” Joe turns to yell back at her but stops short. 

Joleena’s expression is angry, but she’s shaking all over. Joe’s annoyance disappears and he feels like a jerk. He’s had his life threatened more time than he can count but he’s pretty much used to it at this point. He forgot that it’s not exactly a fun experience. 

“Hey,” He says gently, reaching out for her, “You okay?” 

“I’m fine.” She tosses her hair but he can hear the quiver in her voice, “I’m a Beauchene. I don’t need your sympathy or your pity. This is why time traveling is beneath me.” 

Joe blows out an exhausted breath. Dealing with her is starting to give him mood swings and quite frankly he’s a little tired of it. But then he feels her hand lightly brush his. 

“Thank you,” Joleena whispers. Maybe it’s the trick of the firelight but he can swear she’s blushing. “I know I haven’t been the most _agréable_ , but I’m not... used to things like this. I’m not adventurous like you.” 

“Adventurous?” Joe smiles and feels his chest puff out a little. He laughs, “Well, I wouldn’t say I was adventurous. I just go with my instincts and my magic. But don’t worry,” He gives her hand a gentle squeeze, “I’ll make sure we all get home safely.” 

Joleena starts to smile back but she seems to change her mind, rolling her eyes and snatching her hand from his instead. 

“You better,” she huffs and tosses her hair in his face as she walks past him, “Or my father will have you so far banned from magic; you won’t even be able to do card tricks.” 

“J-Jodie wasn’t joking? He can do that?” 

“He’s a Lord of Magic. Of course, he can.” 

Joe swallows nervously and starts asking everyone he comes across about The Book or revolutionists. Most of them are too drunk to be of any help. He does notice that Joleena doesn’t bother talking to anyone else, but sticks close to him instead. It doesn’t help much. He’s just about to think that maybe this wasn’t the best plan after all when he spots Fina waving at him with the others. 

“Thank goodness, I think Fina’s got something,” Joe sighs in relief. 

“ _Bein sur,”_ Joleena sounds even more relieved. 

They hurry through the crowded streets to get to the others. No one had found The Book but it turns out Fina found a lead. She found someone who knew the wigmaker and knew the bar where he drinks. 

“There’s no one as honest as a drunk man,” Fina reasons calmly, “If we find him, I’ll sure he’ll know who Delphine sold The Book to.” 

“Fina, you’re awesome!” Joe grins, “Do you know where the bar is?” 

“Sam and I passed a bar,” Fred speaks up, “I wanted to go in but Sam was too scared.” 

“Yeah because it sounds like a great idea to go inside a bar full of drunk revolutionists.” 

“I’ll go,” Fina volunteers casually. 

“That’s insane,” Jodie frowns, “Sam’s right. You can’t just walk into a bar on a night like this.” 

“It’s not a problem for me. You know that” Fina directs her attention to Joe though, all but ignoring Jodie. 

But Joe shakes his head, “You’re not going in by yourself. I’ll go in with you. The others will be fine here. I mean, you guys can stay here, Fina and I will be right back.” 

Without realizing it, he had fallen into the same habit as Fina of ignoring everyone. Before anyone can call him out on it though he grabs Fina’s hand and heads out of the alley. The bar isn’t too hard to find. They just follow the trail of drunks back to a low building that was one of the few that isn’t being looted. 

“Better let me do all the talking,” Joe gives Fina’s hand a quick squeeze, “I’ve seen firsthand how mean these people can get.” 

Fina gives him a deadpan look, “Yeah, they might even kill me.” 

“...Right. I Forgot. Sorry.” 

If there was a riot outside of the tavern, there’s definitely a party going on inside. No one seems to even notice two underaged teenagers walk inside. Actually, Joe wonders if they even are technically underage in this time period. But that’s beside the point. At first, he thinks that it’ll be impossible to find one random wig maker among all the loud, cheering, drunken men and women. Fina protectively steps in front of him as a man gets punched off his stool and crashes to the floor in front of them. 

“Careful,” Joe helps Fina step over the body. 

The man gets up, wildly swinging and would have clocked Joe if it wasn’t for Fina pulling him out of the way. 

“Careful,” she echoes with a small smile. 

They make their way through the tavern until Joe spots who has to be the wigmaker. He’s the only guy wearing a short, powdered wig and a face dusted in white powder. He’s also the only one not celebrating. His brightly colored clothes are torn and dirty as he slouches at the bar, but he doesn’t look like he’s been attacked. Just really sad. 

Joe and Fina carefully make their way over to him. The man takes another drink, not even seeming to notice them. 

“Um, excuse me, sir?” Joe tentatively taps his shoulder, “You wouldn’t happen to be a um... wigmaker by chance?” 

“Wigmaker!?” The man jumps so hard he nearly falls into Joe. As Fina steadies him though, (protecting Joe as usual), Joe sees he’s grinning, albeit a drunken grin. “Coils and curls and wispy tendrils creating a delicate frrrrrame around the face. A wigmaker, I was _the_ wigmaker. ” 

His happy face sours though and he flops back against the bar, “At least I was. Thanks to dis _rrrrrrrrr_ evolution I am a no one now. Empty. Uncoiffed . There is no beauty in this so called _rrrrrr_ evolution.” 

He takes a long swallow and slams face first into the wood in front of him. Joe winces at the sound and gently tries to prod him back to consciousness but no dice. Fina moves Joe aside and carefully lifts the still unconscious wigmaker into a sitting position. She then picks a drink off the bar and throws it in his face. 

“Sppppllaaa!” The wigmaker chokes and sputters back awake. 

Fina holds him upright and gestures for Joe to continue. 

“Right, um... we were just wondering- you wouldn’t happen to have a family heirloom of mine. A book that Delphine-” 

“Ah Delphine!” The wigmaker swoons against Fina and raises his glass in a toast, “One of my fa _vvvvvv_ orite patrons. That’s why I had to-” He stops himself, looking both ways before leaning forward and dropping his voice, “I’m not a cruel man, but I’m not a rich man. This _rrrrrr_ evolution is going to kill my business, but I could not kill her. So I warned her about tonight and she sold me her family heirloom for protection.” 

“ _Her_ family!?” Joe forces himself to remain calm, “Actually, sir, there was a bit of a mix-up and that was actually my book-” 

“Not that it was worth much,” The wigmaker continues as if he hadn’t heard him. He sighs sadly and downs the rest of his drink, “Only one night of blissful drunkenness and in the morning, I shall face what remains of my beautiful wig shop. Is fair exchange _oui_ _?_ I get drinks, Versailles gets another pretty object to add to its collection.” 

“Versailles?” Joe jumps at the word, trying to remember where he heard it from, “Is that where my book is?” 

“It’s where the _rrrrr_ evolutionists take all their ill-gotten t _rrrr_ easures,” 

Joe looks over at Fina, “I guess that’s where we have to go. You wouldn’t happen to know where Versailles is, do you?” 

She nods and lets go of the wigmaker who slams back against the bar, passed out. Just as they start to leave though, the wigmaker suddenly lurches at them with a gasp. He makes to grab Joe’s arm, but Fina gets in his way instead. 

“Bewaaaarre,” The wigmaker hisses/slurs, “Bewaaaare of the Mad Madam.” 

Joe feels an involuntary shudder go through him. His voice drops to a whisper, “Who’s the Mad Madam?” 

The wigmaker shakes his head, looking around fugitively, “The Mad Madam spares no one. Man, woman, or child. All fall by her hand.” 

His voice slurs as he seems to fade again, almost pulling Fina down with him. Joe pulls her out of his grasp though as he passes out cold on the floor. No one even blinks an eye. Joe shivers again and feels Fina’s hand slip into his. He grips it as she leads him out of bar. Maybe this warp isn’t going to be as easy after all. 

“Well, that was creepy,” He mumbles once they get outside, “Do me a favor and let’s not mention the Mad Madam to anyone. I don’t Sam or Jodie freaking out over nothing. Or Joleena giving me more grief.” 

“Yes, sir.” 

"Besides, the guy probably just had too much to drink.” 

“Maybe, sir.” 

“And please stop calling me sir.” 

“Sorry, si- I mean, Joe.” 

He realizes that he’s still holding her hand and quickly lets go as they head back to the others. Joe tells them what they learned from the wigmaker, except for the Mad Madam part, and everyone agrees that the sooner they get to Versailles the better. 

Which turns out is easier said than done. Without Joleena’s magic to enchant anyone, they’re stuck walking. And walking. And walking. And some more walking until they finally the Palace of Versailles looms in front of them. Unfortunately for them though, they aren’t the firsts to reach it. Heavily armed revolutionists mill around the palace, sharing drinks and transporting what looks like captured nobility and upper-class citizens. Joe doesn’t mention it to the others, but after Joleena’s last run-in with rebels, he doesn’t think it’s the best idea to just go up to the palace. 

“Hey guys, just in case we get, you know, arrested, maybe we should find another way in,” He suggests. 

“How are we supposed to do that?” Sam complains, sitting on the ground and panting from the long walk, “Palaces aren’t really built for people to just walk in from any door. Revolution or not, every door will be heavily guarded.” 

“There could be a servant’s entrance,” Joleena suggests. 

Fina touches Joe’s arm and makes a slight gesture. Joe spots a door, unguarded around a secluded looking corner. It’s mostly hidden by bushes and blends into the wall. 

“Hey guys, I think Fina found a way in.” 

They walk over, keeping an eye out for revolutionaries, and try the door but it holds firm. Locked from the inside probably. 

“Look, there’s a window up there,” Fred points high at a window two or three stories above them, “Someone can climb up, break through the window, and let the rest of us in through the door.” 

“Yeah, great plan Fred,” Sam says sarcastically, “We’ll just climb up sheer stone with no harness or climbing equipment.” 

“Um, ever heard of free climbing?” 

“It is possible,” Fina speaks up, running her hand over the stones, “The stone placement is uneven. It’s only a little but there is some grip here.” 

Fred grins a familiar daredevil grin and nods eagerly, “Great. I’ll climb up and let you guys in, in no time.” 

“No, I better do it,” Fina mumbles, “My hands are smaller so I’ll be able to grip the stone better. Besides, if you go too high and slip, you’ll die. That’s not likely to happen with me.” 

Fred opens his mouth to argue but closes it again, probably realizing that she’s right. Joe isn’t so sure that he wants Fina to do something so dangerous, but she insists and he can’t think of another way for them to get in. In the end, they all step back and watch as Fina grabs hold of the stone wall and begins to climb. 

He doesn’t know about the others, but Joe is amazed at how fast and how far Fina can climb. In only a few minutes she’s already a story about them. Curious, Joe runs a hand over the wall himself. The stone is uneven but only a little. To get any sort of real grip she had to be using her fingernails or something. Beside him, Fred gives a low whistle. 

“Wow,” He mutters, “that is a lot higher than it looks.” 

Joe nods wordlessly. Two or three stories are starting to look a lot more like five or six stories. He didn’t even know Fina could climb like this. She really is an amazing assistant. 

When Fina gets closer to the window, she starts climbing sideways to get parallel to it. Something seems to be wrong though as she tries to open it. Joe’s heart sinks. Of course, it’ll be locked. He waits for Fina to start climbing down but she raises her arm and appears to be banging on the window. But then her arm goes through it with a faint crash. Everyone watches in stunned silence as Fina swings the rest of her body through the ragged hole, knocking the rest of the shards out of its frame. There’s a beat of silence. Then another beat. Then a faint thud. Silence. 

Finally, there’s a slight sound on the other side and the door opens wide. Everyone gasps and Joe feels sick to his stomach. 

Fina looks back at them and tilts her head, “What’s wrong?” 

_“Mon_ _dieu_ _!”_ Joleena whispers. 

“F-Fina,” Joe manages to choke out, “What happened to your... you know...” 

He doesn’t know how to say it so he just gestures to his own eye. Since it looks like Fina is missing hers. And part of her face. 

“Oh this?” Fina mirrors Joe’s gesture and shrugs, “Turns out the room is really big. There’s no floor immediately under the window. I think I fell on a suit of armor or something. We should probably go in before someone comes to investigate.” 

Joleena, Sam, and Jodie move quickly past her inside carefully averting their eyes as they walk past her. Joe finds himself rooted to the spot though, unable to look away. Fred doesn’t move either. 

“Fina,” Fred says, “Doesn’t that hurt?” When Fina shrugs again he shakes his head, “You really are stone cold.” 

Fina purses her lips and her brow furrows. She undoes her braid on that side and shakes out her hair so it covers that side of her face. Joe notices that the tips of her fingers are red and raw, her nails low to the quick. 

“Is this better sir?” She asks addressing Joe. 

He starts to nod, his stomach untwisting again, but then feels bad about feeling relieved. 

“I don’t think that’s Fred’s point, Fina.” 

“It definitely wasn’t!” 

“I got us in didn’t we?” Fina gives a defeated sigh and leads them inside. 

“Way to go, Fred,” Joe hisses and elbows him, “You hurt her feelings. Like she doesn’t have enough reason to be subconscious about how she looks.” 

“She isn’t subconscious about anything!” Fred hisses back, “And I thought I was reckless.” 

“Hey Joe,” Joleena calls out to him, “Now that we’re inside the palace, do you actually have a plan or...” 

“Right um...” Joe realizes he actually doesn’t have a plan. Note to self; don’t take directions from a drunk wig-maker again. “I guess we pick a room and start searching for The Book.” 

He ignores everyone’s (especially Joleena’s) incredulous looks and picks a room at random. It’s a large, long room crammed with stuff and hopefully the Book will be crammed somewhere too. Having literally no other option, the six of them spread out and start searching. It’s just about as fun as it sounds. 

“Oh brilliant plan, we just search for one little book in a palace with a thousand rooms,” Jodie mutters under her breath but Joe hears her. 

“Well we can’t use Joleena’s magic. Fina says it’s too dangerous,” Joe mutters back. 

“Do you always listen to your girlfriend?” 

“I’m not even going to dignify that with a response,” Joe grumbles but he can feel himself blushing. 

Jodie hums in disbelief and moves away to search elsewhere. Joe makes a face at her back and keeps searching. Unfortunately, she has a point though. There is a lot of junk, valuable stuff that you can’t really call junk, but not exactly what they’re looking for. He glances at his friends to see if they made any progress. Sam is starting to look panicked, but who can blame him? The longer they’re here the bigger chance of getting beheaded. And he doesn’t even know about the Mad Madam who may or may not even exist. Surprisingly, Fred isn’t having his usual fun rifling through other people’s stuff. He keeps darting guilty looks towards Fina who, aside from the dried blood on her face, is back to looking her normal, nonchalant self. 

Joe sighs and turns back to looking for The Book, “I really have to learn how to keep ahold of this thing.” 

“ _Oui,_ you really do,” Joleena moves a little closer to him and shoots him a small smile, “But I suppose it could be worse. I expected you to get us in trouble by now.” 

Joe glances at her in mild surprise. Was she actually being nice? Or, at least not complaining as much. He starts to smile, but of course, whenever someone says ‘it could be worse’, things get much, much worse. 

“Well, well, well, look what we have here.” 

An icy chill goes through the room at the sound of that voice. There's a collective gasp from more than one person, as who else but San-Li enters the room, closing the door behind her. Everyone gets a little closer together, almost subconsciously. San-Li eyes them sharply and she’s wearing similar clothes as the revolutionists. 

“If it isn’t the warp runt and his friends,” Her smirk turns into a scowl, “Just what I needed to brighten my day.” 

“What are you doing here?” Joe eyes her suspiciously as she makes her way around the room. “Are you following me?” 

San-Li scoffs, “Like I’d waste my time!” 

Fina is suddenly next to Joe, already protective and eyes focused on San-Li as she casually browses around the room. Sam, Jodie, and even Fred move to the other side of the room, as far away from her as possible. 

“I see the most of the gang is here,” San-Li's eyes brush over each of them before landing on Joleena, “But you, I don’t know.” 

Joleena opens her mouth to answer, but Joe lays a hand on her arm to stop her, “Don’t. That’s the psycho time thief I told you about.” 

“Psycho?” San-Li's eyes narrow. 

“Oh, this is her?” Joleena curls her lip and looks San-Li up and down, “ _La_ _mauvaise_ _vache_ _.”_

“What did you call me, frenchie?” San-Li's voice turns three shades dangerous as she stalks closer. 

Joleena isn’t backing down though, looking back at her like she was barely worth her time. Joe doesn’t know if she’s brave, crazy, or both, but he’s definitely impressed. And a little awed. San-Li's smile is like a shark’s, her eyes are cold and frosty. But face to face, Joleena is well over a head taller than her. 

“I don’t know how much warp runt told you about me,” San-Li's voice is close to a growl, “But you better watch what you say to me. I’m not exactly the nicest person to mess with.” 

"You’re not nice period,” Joe clarifies. He means it as a fact, but he can’t help but smile when Joleena snickers. 

“Guys, maybe we _shouldn’t_ be antagonizing her,” Sam hisses, “It might upset her.” 

“Listen to the nerd,” San-Li keeps her eyes locked on Joleena though. 

"You know what, Joseph also told me?” Now it’s Joleena’s turn to smirk, “That you that you seemed pretty _effrayée...”_

“I’ll show you _effrayée_...” 

“This might be a little presumptuous...” 

“Oh no, please presume...” 

“But it sounds to me like you’re afraid of a little... magic,” She punctuates the word with a snap of her fingers creating a blinding spark of purple light. 

San-Li flinches back and there’s more than one smothered laugh from everyone except Sam who looks scared and uncomfortable and Joe who laughs out loud. Even if it only lasted for a second the scared look on San-Li's face was gold. He can get used to seeing that look from her. 

“Oh great,” San-Li mumbles, “A witch.” 

“ _Excusez-moi_ _?”_ Now it’s Joleena’s turn to narrow her eyes, “What did you just call me?” 

“You heard me,” San-Li mumbles starting to slink away towards the door. 

“You better watch what you say to her,” Joe speaks up, stepping next to Joleena proudly, “You might be able to bully me, but she really knows her magic, so don’t think you can try anything.” 

Joe smiles smugly at San-Li, expecting her to balk and run. Or maybe try and talk herself out of what would be righteous retribution. But as his eyes lock with San-Li's, his smile fades as hers grows. 

“I think I have a better idea,” She grins and throws open the door. “ _Hé_ _ici_ _!_ _Loyalistes_ _à la couronne!”_ She yells out the door. 

Almost immediately thunderous footsteps fill the hall and seconds later armed revolutionists fill the room pointing their rifles directly at them. There’s no chance to run. No chance to argue or plead their case. They’re outnumbered and out powered by guns. Joe doubts that even Joleena could use her magic fast enough to stop all the trigger-happy gunmen at once. Despite all this though, they’re able to put up at least a mild fight before they’re rounded up with guns pointed at their backs and herded out of the room. Joe loses sight of San-Li in the chaos, but he knows she’s gloating somewhere. 

“Great! This is just great!” Sam shouts angrily. He glowers at Joleena, “I told you not to antagonize her! Was it really worth us being executed!?” 

“At least someone stood up to her,” Joe immediately shoots back. 

“You just made her sound so horrible,” Joleena sighs, “Now I know why.” 

“Why am I getting the strongest feeling of déjà vu?” Fred asks. 

“Because this literally happened to us on the Titanic!” Sam shrieks. 

“Glad to hear that this is a usual warp for you guys,” Jodie mutters. 

“Don’t worry,” Joe whispers to Joleena noticing her alarmed glance, “We usually break out of prisons just as often as we get thrown into them.” 

But just then, there’s a commotion as someone comes running up the hall behind them. 

“ _Attendez_ _!_ _Attendez_ _!”_ He cuts through the other revolutionists and gestures to Sam, “Dis one iz wanted for questioning!” 

“Me!?” 

“Him!?” 

“You! Come with me!” 

Two revolutionists take Sam by the arms and start dragging him away. Sam kicks and screams and everyone else fights, but no one can do anything as he’s separated from the rest of them. Joe feels sick to his stomach as he loses sight of his best friend. He has no idea why they would even think Sam knows something, but it doesn’t matter. Now, not only do they have to try to escape, they have to try and do it before the revolutionists find out that Sam really doesn’t know anything. And he doesn’t want to know what’s going to happen when he’s not useful to them. 

* * *

_Why me? Why me? Why me!!!???_

It’s the only thing Sam can think as he’s escorted/dragged away from his friends. What could he have possibly done or said to make anyone think he has any sort of relevant information for this revolution? Okay, so maybe he does have a ton of relevant information about the revolution, but they didn’t know that! 

“I’m not kidding, I don’t know anything!” Sam pleads with his captors, “I-I just got here! I’m not even from France!” 

“This one is scrawny and pathetic,” One of them look at him with contempt, “I cannot see how he can be of any aid to us.” 

“It is not for us to decide who is useful and who is not,” the other one answers, “We’re just following orders.” 

They both ignore Sam though, and shove him into a room, similar to, but smaller than the one they had been searching earlier. He falls to the ground as they leave, closing the door behind them. He chokes on dirt as he tries to stand, his heart pounding as he lifts his head to face his interrogator. 

“Well,” San-Li chuckles with a small smile, “They were unnecessarily rough on you.” 

“Y-you!?” Sam feels conflicting emotions of relief and anger. Relief because he doubts that she actually cares enough about the French Revolution to actually interrogate him. Anger because, you know... it’s her. Getting him arrested. Again. 

“Um, most people would say, ‘thank you’ in this situation,” San-Li mutters going back to rifling through someone else’s stuff. 

“You got me arrested. Again,” He points out, frowning, “You got me and my friends arrested. And you know what they do to prisoners? They behead them!” 

San-Li throws her hands up impatiently, “I lost my temper, okay? Joe and his new French mistress were getting on my nerves. And to be fair, I did warn her. Hell, you warned them.” 

“So, you get them thrown into prison? Maybe even executed?” 

“They’ll be fine. Maybe the French poodle with magic them out.” 

Sam shakes his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. Dealing with her is frustrating to say the least. Nearly impossible. His friends were in prison because she lost her temper and yet she sees nothing wrong with that. But then he realizes something. His friends were in prison, but he wasn’t. It was clear that San-Li had been the one to tell the revolutionists to bring him here. And yet she doesn’t seem to have any particular reason. Sam watches as San-Li continues looking around the room, almost as if she forgot he was there. He bites his lip, debating whether or not to ask, but in the end, he’s too curious not to. 

“Why did you save me?” 

San-Li doesn’t answer for a moment, still apparently searching for something. Sam is just about to give up, edging towards the door when she finally does speak. 

“You’re the only one who didn’t laugh,” She mumbles quietly. 

Sam’s mouth drops open in a small “o”. His chest constricts with a familiar ache. He knows what it’s like to have everyone laughing at you. How many times had he been picked on, made fun of, tripped in the hallway or given a weggie and have had everyone laugh at his expense? Admittedly, at the time, the only reason why Sam hadn’t laughed at her earlier was fear of her. But what if they had more in common than he thought? 

San-Li finally glances at him and makes a disgusted face, “Ew. Wipe that sympathetic look off your face. I’m still as mean as ever.” 

Despite himself, despite everything, Sam finds himself smiling a little. “Sure, you are.” 

“Darn right.” 

"Of course.” 

“Good luck finding your book so you can stay out of my way.” 

“Tha-wait, what?” Sam shakes his head in confusion, “What do you mean, ‘good luck finding your book’? What about my friends?” 

San-Li scoffs, “What about them? They can rot in prison for all I care.” 

“You got them arrested. Can’t you just get them released like you did me?” 

“Haha, nope.” 

“But, they’re my friends!” 

“Then find The Book and warp back to before they came here. See? Problem solved.” 

“I’m not leaving my best friends in jail for who knows how long! They wouldn’t do that to me!” 

“I’m still missing the part where this is my problem.” 

And just like that, the feeling of animosity between them is back in full. Sam glares at San-Li's back. That’s how little she cares. She isn’t even bothering to look at him. Part of him wants to ask what she’s even looking for but he couldn’t care less. If she didn’t care enough to help him then- 

Sam smirks as an idea comes to mind. He makes towards the door to leave. 

“Alright,” he calls over his shoulder, “I’m going to go try and free my friends from prison. I could sure use some help.” 

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees San-Li jolt as if stuck and spin around to face him. 

“You little-” 

“What’s wrong?” Sam turns a smug smile on her, mirroring the one she often pulls on him, “You act like we had some sort of magically binding deal to help each other. Like you don’t have a choice but to _help_ me free my friends.” 

He takes a moment to relish San-Li's stunned expression. He’s a little proud of himself, not allowing himself to be cowed. Actually getting the best of someone who might be almost as smart as he is. That feeling quickly fades though as San-Li's expression changes. She purses her lips and really looks at Sam. Like she’s studying him. Or figuring out how to murder him. Sam swallows and takes a half step back just in case it’s the latter. 

But then San-Li smiles. An honest smile that’s the opposite of murderous. She chuckles a little as she approaches him. 

“You are smart,” She nods in approval, “Very smart. Not many people can get one over on me like that. I’m impressed. I think I underestimated you.” 

Sam smiles in relief, “Thanks I-” 

“But don’t get cocky,” San-Li's voice turns deadly as she leans closer to him. Her voice drops low, “Just because you impressed me this time, doesn’t mean I’ll let you get away with it next time.” 

Sam swallows and squeaks nervously, “You know that implies that there will be a next time, right?” 

San-Li's face goes still and Sam immediately starts kicking himself for opening his mouth. Why did he have to talk back? What was he thinking? He should know better than to talk back to someone with such a volatile temperament. Who knows what she might do next? 

Amusement flickers in San-Li's eyes for just a brief second before she takes a breath and moves away from him towards the door. 

“Well, come on,” She calls over her shoulder when she notices Sam hasn’t moved, “Let’s go save your friends.”


	7. Chapter 7

They call her the Mad Madam. They may well be right. Years of injustice. A lifetime rather. Generations of misfortunes and tragedies befell her people. She had been born poor, but they had made her a peasant. She had been born into servitude, but they made her a slave. But when the first cries of revolution rang out, she leaped at her chance and taken power into her own hands. 

Somehow, they knew. Somehow, the powerful family who appeared in Paris seemingly out of nowhere and claimed her family's service knew. They always seemed one step ahead of the danger presented to the nobility. Before the French Republic was formed, before the National Convention, even before the storming of the prisons, they seemed to know. The powerful family with their dark skin and piercing amber eyes seemed to sniff the danger before the winds blew and flew like hares before the hunt. They took a few servants with them. This family that came in her great grandfather’s time vanished just as quickly. 

It was more than just survival instinct that led them though. Her grandfather used to tell her stories about the family they worked for. The women with their warm smoldering eyes used more than just their looks to enchant others around them. The men were made powerful by more than just their wealth. She heard these stories and witnessed their truth. Flowers bloomed out of season in their gardens. Light sometimes played under bookcases in the dead of night when everyone but the lowest of servants had gone to bed. 

She had been one of these lowly charwomen. Fragments of faint light glowed briefly in the very dust that she swept. The ashes she cleaned from their chimney had a strange sweet smell as if something foreign had been burning in the hearth. And more than once, if she were careful and silent, she would creep by closed doors and hear them speak in an unknown language. 

So, when the first cries of revolution rang out, and the great family fled with only a few servants, she saw her chance. While their hasty retreat threw the château in chaos and disarray, she had snuck into the lord mother’s innermost sanctum. The room had been mostly cleared but there were still items scattered about. She went on a long-held suspicion and searched the lord mother’s sewing corner. The rocking chair remained; the basket of yarn was empty. Or so it seemed. Buried under a few scraps of fabric were a pair of knitting needles. But these were no ordinary knitting needles. The lord’s mother always seemed to know who can be trusted and who cannot. She always seemed to know who could be made an ally and who would prove to be an enemy. 

Holding the knitting needles in her own hands, she could now see how that was possible. The needles looked ordinary enough made of dark, gleaming wood and engraved with the family seal of an oak tree blooming with roses. But they were heavier than ordinary needles and when she held them tightly, she could swear she felt them vibrating. She had to test them to be sure though. She tested them on a few families she suspected of being loyal to the royalists and noble class. All she had to do was think of their names or faces and knit. And then, like magic, as she knit their loyalty would be etched into the fabric. She took the names to her husband, a leader amongst the rebels, and those damned nobles were beheaded as fitting the cause. 

Hundreds had gone to the guillotine in this manner, and thousands more as long as she had breath in her body. Even now as she sits in one of the once splendid rooms in the Palace of Versailles, hatred for the nobility and all they represent courses through her veins. She sits in the back of the room knitting while her husband and his fellow rebels played judge and jury. Captured prisoners are marched into the room cell by cell to be judged. Her husband and his friends hear their testimony. Her knitting decides. It doesn’t matter if they come in tears, defiance, or in dignified silence. They will all be judged. They all will die.

“No, please,” A swallow, balding man shook before them, “I-I-I disown the royal family just like all of you. We are all of one mind.”

Thérèse  Derrange glances at his face and starts to knit. She recognizes this man. He worked as a banker who served both rich and poor. And yet the interest rate for the poor seemed to be twice that for the wealthy. And loans had been denied more often than not. He always claimed that it wasn’t his fault but...

_ Royalist.  _

The word is embossed neatly into the cloth. She lifts her head and catches her husband’s eye. He takes in her set lips and flare of hatred in her eyes. He nods and turns back to his men.

“Guilty!” He declares.

Thérèse lowers her head again and continues knitting. It is nice work this. With these needles, she shall knit a death shroud over France. 

* * *

She’s whistling. They’re walking through a sieged palace in revolutionary France, and she’s whistling. They’re surrounded by some tense, some drunken, but all-around agitated revolutionists ready to behead an enemy at a moment’s notice, and she’s whistling. Sam’s heart is beating a mile a minute following her, afraid she’ll turn on him any minute like she did Joe, and she’s whistling. But the longer she does it, the more he can only think about the whistle. It’s familiar. Something he’s heard before. It’s the same tune she whistled when she rescued them on the Titanic. He heard the tune somewhere else though. 

“Twisted Nerve?” He finally asks, “Is that what you’re whistling?”

San-Li tosses him a semi-surprised look over her shoulder, “You know it?”

“Yeah, a lot of people would recognize it from Kill Bill, but actually originated from composer-”

“Bernard Herrmann for the 1968 film Twisted Nerve,” San-Li flicks her eyes forward again, “So you know how to do a web search, kid.”

“Actually, when I was in seventh grade, I got really interested in film composers and studied Bernard Herrmann for a year.” 

“Oh yeah?” San-Li deadpans like she doesn’t believe him and flicks her eyes at him again, “What’s your favorite piece?”

Sam stops for a moment considering, Hermann had a lot of good stuff ranging from film scores to television scores to even radio dramas. A lot of his favorite old movies were actually scored by Bernard Herrmann. 

“That’s a pretty tough question,” He says after a minute, “The theme song for the Twilight Zone and the score for Psycho are pretty iconic-”

San-Li scoffs and mumbles under her breath, “Figures you’d choose the easy answer.”

“-but his Sinfonietta for string orchestra is pretty good too,” Sam continues, frowning at her interruption, “really intense, even chilling at times. At least it was better than Silent Noon. I thought that was a little bland.”

San-Li stops dead in her tracks and Sam walks right into her back. 

“Ow! Hey-”

“Are you serious?” San-Li turns to him with a look of utter disbelief and... awe? “You really do know who Bernard Hermann is? Is there anything you don’t know, kid?”

“Why, are you going to quiz me?”

His tone is teasing but he honestly wouldn’t mind. The one thing Sam had on other people was how scary-smart he was. He thinks it comes from his mom. She’s a freelance writer for a few publications so when they want her to write about a particular subject, she gets really into it. Same with him. Once he finds something that interests him, he studies it until he knows everything about it. So, he can’t really help but try and show off. Especially since he spots the barest trace of a smile on San-Li's face before she turns back around and starts walking again. Sam isn’t perturbed though in the least. If he can keep the conversation going, maybe he can finally breathe around her.

“You seem pretty familiar with Bernard Hermann yourself,” He starts, “Is Twisted Nerve your favorite or do you like another one?”

San-Li doesn’t answer him. Sam waits thinking that maybe she was just thinking really hard, but as the silence wore on, he can feel his smile dropping. He takes a few quick steps to see San-Li's face and it’s controlled and empty. He bites his lip nervously and tries again. 

“Are you familiar with any other composers?” He ventures, “Like Martin O’Donnell or Johann Bach?”

She doesn’t turn around but at least this time she answers, “You’d really compare one of the greatest classical music composers of all time, to an American jingle writer?”

“An American jingle writer whose scores have earned him international recognition.”

Another ghost of a smile flits across San-Li's face, “Touché.”

But then the smile is gone and another silence stretches between them. They pass by a couple of revolutionists but they don’t give them a second glance. San-Li leads them to a door guarded by two armed rebels. She makes a motion with her hand, they nod, make the same gesture back and step aside to let them in. The door opens to a set of stone stairs leading down into darkness. The only light comes from two candles in holders on either side inside the door. San-Li grabs one of the candles by the holder and leads them down. Sam takes a nervous breath and follows.

* * *

Guns pointed at their backs, the five of them, without Sam, are taken underground and shoved into a cell. It's dark, dank, and only lit by torches on the wall outside the cell. But for a cell in a dungeon the floor is at least relatively clean... for dirt. And at least there are two wooden benches for them to sit on. 

Joe tries to keep positive as the bars clang shut behind them. They’ve been in worse prisons and in worse predicaments before. They can totally get through this. 

“We’re totally going to die,” Jodie whines sinking onto one of the benches, “If we don’t get beheaded, we’re going to die of some plague in this filthy dungeon.”

“If you think this is bad, I’d hate to imagine where poor Sam is,” Fred shudders and sits down next to her. “He must be totally freaking out by now. What do they want with him anyway?”

Joe doesn’t have an answer so he doesn’t try to give one. He sinks down onto the other bench and stares up at the ceiling trying to think. First things first, they have to figure out a way to break out so they can rescue Sam. Joleena’s magic might draw too much attention, but what if he could do something? A faint whisper brushes by and he knows without looking around that Fina is sitting next to him. She gives his hand one brief, feather-like touch and he immediately feels calmer. 

“Are you positive I shouldn’t use my magic, even now?” Joleena asks calmly, but her eyes look worried. Her hands are folded behind her, clenching and unclenching her fingers. 

“No, your magic is too conspicuous,” Fina answers, “If they don’t behead you for being a royalist sympathizer, they’ll burn you at the stake for witchcraft. There were no historically recorded witch burnings during the French Revolution. So it may not be wise to give them one.”

Joleena’s fingers clench so hard her knuckles turn white and her lips tighten ever so slightly. Joe feels for her, it’s hard not to. He can tell behind her calm and controlled façade she’s still terrified. 

“Do you really have to be so blunt?” He mummers to Fina, “She’s already scared.” He then turns to Joleena, “You wanna sit down? We might be here for a while.”

“ _ Non”  _ Joleena purses her lips, “I’d much rather not touch anything in this  _ crasseux _ __ place. There’s grime everywhere.”

Jodie immediately stands up and brushes off the back of her skirt. Joe shrugs and glances down. Joleena’s heels are so high that she’s practically standing on tiptoe. 

“Are you sure? Your feet have to be killing you by now.”

A faint, proud smile crosses her lips, the first one he’s seen from her in a while, “I’ve been wearing heels since I was four. My feet are fine.”

“Can we please talk about how we’re going to get out of here?” Fred interrupts impatiently. “I’m worried about Sam.”

“You’re right, you’re right, sorry,” Joe tears his eyes away from Joleena and tries to focus and think. Joleena’s magic is too flashy and could get them in even bigger trouble (if that was possible). But what if he could use his magic? Bending time didn’t necessarily have to be flashy.

“What if,” He muses out loud, “I speed up time and rust the bars? Then we could just walk out.”

Fina looks at him thoughtfully, “Maybe. Do you think you can manage it?”

“Maybe,” Joe echoes. He hopes he can at least. So far, he and uncle Joe only talked about time manipulation in theory and he read a little about it in The Book. He never actually practiced doing it though. 

Fina gives his hand another feather-light touch and his mind is made up. There’s nothing to do but to try it. He gets up and heads over to the bars. The metal feels rough and cold under his hand and he has a small moment of doubt. The bars are solid iron. Can he really use his magic to turn them to rust? Then he remembers that his best friend is missing, the rest of his friends might be beheaded soon, and so Joe takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and concentrates. 

Time manipulation is the core of his magic. Joe’s strength is the fact he can bend the very fabric of time to his will. All he had to do was tap into his magic, and tell it what he wanted it to do. He was in control. He was in control. 

A tiny gasp escapes under Joe’s breath as he feels something. In his  minds eye, he can see the bar his hand is on and the time flowing within it. The iron wasn’t alive but he could still feel the time in and around it. 

_ Accelerate _ , he commands silently.

Joe’s heartbeat picks up and sweat breaks out on his forehead but he feels something else happening too. Slightly, just slightly, the time within the metal bar begins to speed up. It happens from the inside, but it starts spreading outwards. The solid firmness of the iron starts feeling a little less solid, and a lot rougher. The bar starts bending outwards until  _ snap! _

Joe’s eyes snap open as his hand suddenly goes through one section of the bar. And as his hand goes through, the jagged end of the bar gouges across down his wrist, leaving a jagged, bleeding cut.

“AH!” He cries out in both pain and surprise and clamps his other hand over the wound. 

Fina jumps up and is by his side in seconds. She replaces his hand with hers and her cool healing immediately soothes the pain away.

“What happened?” Fred asks in concern.

“My hand went through the bar,” Joe explains with a sigh. “I was only able to get part of the bar to rust and the other part cut my hand.”

He quickly looks away from Joleena’s concerned glance feeling embarrassed. He can’t believe he was only able to rust part of the bar. His magic still must not be strong enough. On the other hand, it does feel like Fina’s almost done healing him. Maybe he could try again until he breaks enough of them. 

Once his arm is fully healed, Fina slides her hand away and waits. Joe looks back at the rest of the bars. What choice does he have? He reaches his hand out and grabs another bar. 

“What are you doing?” Joleena’s voice rings with alarm, “Are you trying to hurt yourself again?”

“You want to get out of here don’t you?” Joe grits his teeth and starts concentrating. 

“Not if it means you hurting yourself!”

He does his best to ignore her, but his magic falters just a little. 

“Joe knows what he’s doing,” Fina says. 

“Oh, so it’s okay for him to struggle with his magic, but it’s not okay for me to easily get us out with mine?”

Joe’s concentration breaks as he turns to glare at Joleena, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Loud footsteps echo down the hall towards them cutting off any further argument. Hard-eyed rebels walk in and come to a stop in front of their cell. 

“By order of the People’s Republic of France, you are hereby wanted for your trial,” One of them announces.

“What about Sam?”

“Where’s our other friend?”

Fred and Joe demand, but they don’t get an answer. The rebels open their cell and once again, they are dragged out at gunpoint. Joe’s stomach sinks. Where the heck is Sam?

* * *

Sam can’t take the silence anymore. His few attempts at a conversation have been met by stony silences. Their footsteps echo across the floor. The eerie gloom sends shudders down Sam’s spine. He can hear rats scurrying across the ground for crying out loud. 

“You seem like you’re really into music,” He says going off the one thing he knows about her, “Do you like anything else? Movies? Tv? Books?”

San-Li gives an exasperated sigh, the first noise she’s made in a while, “Look kid, can you just stop trying to talk to me? You really don’t need to.” 

Sam’s shoulders lift defensively, “I was just trying to break up the silence a little. It’s creepy down here.”

“You know that’s not your only reason. I may not be a genius like you, but I’m not stupid. You don’t like me,” San-Li shrugs casually, “I get it. You think I might go psycho on you so you’re pretending to be friendly in order to protect yourself. Which I’m telling you right now that you don’t need to do. So you can go back to hating me and drop the friendly act.”

“I don’t hate you,” Sam says immediately, surprised at the accusation, “I barely even know you.”

“All the better reason not to talk to me, kid.”

Sam blinks and looks down at his shoes. Did he hate San-Li? Before he met her, he would venture to say that he never hated anyone. But he has made it pretty clear that he wasn’t too happy being involved with San-Li in the first place. That doesn’t mean he hates her though. Terrified of her and what she could do- yes. But hate her? He barely knew her and it doesn’t seem like she’ll let him get to know her anytime soon. If the contract they were stuck in together had anything to say about it though, they had better get used to each other. 

“Look,” He starts after a while, his tone more serious, “In a normal situation, we would never interact. But every time we do bump into each other, I find some things we have in common. And since we may not be able to avoid occasionally running into each other for the foreseeable future, we could at least attempt to be civil to each other, can’t we?”

San-Li gives one dry laugh, almost a snort, “How can you be civil to someone you think could go psycho on you any second?”

“I don’t think you’re crazy. Crazy people don’t play chess as well as you do.”

San-Li's mouth twitches before she blows out a breath and actually starts laughing. It starts off as another dry snort until it grows into an actual laugh. Sam smiles at the sound and even relaxes a little. 

“Are you serious? You do know that dictators and warlords play chess too right, kid?”

“But you’re not either one of those,” Sam’s smile falls a little though, “Right?”

San-Li only shoots him a smirk and a wink, purposely not answering. Sam feels his face warm, but it still strikes him just how much he doesn’t know about her. She’s a time thief who blends into different time periods. For all he knows, she could be Stalin’s long-lost time-traveling niece or something. It sounds ridiculous, but crazier things have happened. 

“But what if I don’t like you?”

“Huh?” Sam looks up startled to find San-Li watching him carefully. It’s a complete one-eighty from her complete attempt to ignore him.

“You always talk about how you can’t trust me because I hurt your friend and I’m mean,” She continues, watching him carefully with her sharp gray eyes, “But what makes you think I can trust you? You’re the best friend of my mortal enemy. And a goody-two-shoes who doesn’t exactly approve of my chosen vocation.”

Sam sighs, feeling defeated and a bit stung, “Why do I even bother? You act like it really would kill you for us to get along for once?”

Her eyes, almost silver in the firelight, fall away from his with what almost looks like regret, “trust me it's easier this way. We know where we stand and things don't get ugly.”

The passageway diverges into two directions, one going left, and the other going right with a few doors directly in front of them. San-Li opens one of the doors ahead, leading into a small room with keys pegged on the wall. She uses her candle to light one of the unlit candles and hands it to Sam. She carefully avoids looking at him.

Sam's mind is going a mile a minute trying to decipher her words. One minute, she gets angry at him for reminding of his dislike for her. The next minute, she tries to avoid all conversation with him. If she wanted to convince him that she wasn't as mean as he claims she is, wouldn't she talk to him more? Nothing she did make sense. 

But then Sam suddenly remembers their last chess match and something clicks. When she wanted to distract him, she said something insulting to catch him off guard. Same when the group of them confronted her by the river, back in England. So, what if her being so cold and so mean to him now, was meant to keep some distance between them? What if it wasn’t just him? What if it was everyone? 

"You know, I once read that Blackbeard would put slow-burning fuses in his hair and beard to make himself look intimidating. So, cargo ships would give up without a fight.” He says and watches her reaction carefully, “Is that what you’re doing? Acting mean to intimidate people because you’re not as ruthless as you pretend to be?”

San-Li jolts and Sam knows he hit the mark. She turns on him with a scowl that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. 

“What are you a psychology major? Don’t psychoanalyze me, kid!”

“I did study B.F. Skinner one summer. He theorized that all of our behavior stems from conditioning.”

“Don’t psychoanalyze me,” San-Li repeats in a dangerous growl. 

He looks into her eyes and does see something threatening below the surface. He presses though, knowing that he’s right. 

“This could be a lot easier for both of us if we at least got along.”

San-Li ignores him and takes one of the keys off the wall to give him, “This key should work for whatever cell they threw your friends in.”

“I’m going to lock you in here,” San-Li grumbles as she leaves the room. 

Sam quickly follows, even though he doesn’t think she’ll really do it. But now would not be a good time to be proven wrong.

“The holding cells are to the left,” San-Li gestures down one passage while she turns to go in the opposite direction. “Hope you make it before they get executed.”

“What should I say?” He asks nervously. He didn’t really consider it before, he was just eager to get back to his friends, but now he was starting to realize that they were going to part ways. It made sense. It’s not like they can be seen together. But navigating these dark, eerie passages with her was better than navigating them alone. “I can’t exactly tell my friends that you helped me and there’s no way they’d believe I escaped  _ and  _ found the keys by myself.”

“Tell them...” San-Li purses her lips in thought before chuckling, “Tell them that you told a bunch of drunks where the palace wine cellar is. And they were so grateful they just gave you the keys.”

“That’s good,” Sam smiles a little in relief. He doesn’t like lying, but he did know a lot about 18th-century palace layouts after studying historical architecture for a year. “I think I can manage that.”

“Of course, you can, you’re a genius, aren’t you?” San-Li throws over her shoulder as she walks away, leaving Sam to wonder if she was making fun of him again. 

He watches her for a moment, before turning in the opposite direction to go find his friends.

* * *

As a stage magician, one of the most important factors is the audience. Whether or not the audience wants to believe in the magician’s capabilities to do the impossible can make or break a performance. And if that audience was hostile, his uncle taught Joe that if he could find at least one friendly face in the crowd, he can win the rest. 

Too bad there wasn’t a single friendly face in front of him right now. 

In a new, even more dimly lit and crowded room further under the palace, the group of revolutionists glared at the five of them with nothing but contempt in their eyes. Joe starts to feel relief when his eyes land on a woman knitting in the back. She’s big and stocky, but like in a beefy soccer mom way. There’s no way he won’t be able to milk some sympathy out of her. But then she lifts her head and looks at each of them in turn with open hostility. Until her eyes land on Joleena and they blaze with pure hatred. Joleena takes a half step back, even as her brows furrow in confusion.

A burly man sitting front and center clears his throat and looks down at the sheaf of papers in front of him, “You five have been accused of being royalist sympathizers and breaking into our headquarters to  _ spy  _ for the nobility. How do you plead?”

“Not guilty,” Joe responds immediately, “As a matter of fact, we’re completely innocent. The person who told you we were royalists is a liar and a psychopath. We’re not even French. We’re not from around here at all. We’re all from America which is all the way across the sea.”

_ Click  _ _ click _ __ _ click _ __ _ click _ _. _

The woman in the back knits furiously as he talks. Joe is momentarily distracted before turning back to the burly man. 

“As a matter of fact, our country went through a revolution too , ” He continues bluffing, “ We broke from our own king, s o we actually support you guys.”

“Totally,” Fred nods  enthusiastically and laughs nervously, “Go revolutionists.”

The men at the table exchange looks and it could be Joe’s hopeful  imagination, but he can swear the ir expressions aren’t as hard as they were before. But then the beefy soccer-mom in the back makes small hissing noise between her teeth.  She waits until the burly man turns to look at her before  giving one firm shake of the head. 

“ Guilty,” The burly man declares instantly , “The People’s Republic of France hereby declares you guilty. Sentence of which is death by guillotine  to take place  when we see fit. Take them back to their cell to await their fate. ”

“What!?”

“But we’re not royal, like, at all!”

“You’re making a huge mistake!”

Their pleas are ignored though as they’re dragged back. Joe looks around desperately for one sympathetic face and sees none. A few of them look uncomfortable, maybe even confused. But the face that surprises him the most is the beefy-soccer mom’s face. She stares at them with a mixture of contempt, hatred, and... fear? Before Joe can even wonder why though, he sees something else behind her. Towards the back of the room, where a lot of other stuff was pushed back to make room for the revolutionists, was The Book.

“Hey wait!” Joe calls out, renewing his struggles, “that’s The-”

But with a final, particularly violent heave, Joe is yanked out the room and the door slams shut.

So good news- he now knew where The Book was. Bad News- He also had a feeling who the Mad Madam was. Worse news- If they wanted to get to The Book, they might have to go through the Mad Madam to get it. 


	8. Chapter 8

_ Goodbye optimism, hello panic mode.  _

Joe paces the cell, kicking up nothing but dust. He knows where The Book is, but one of his best friends was being held somewhere by revolutionists and they didn’t know where. And that was the  best-case scenario. He doesn’t even want to think about the  worst-case scenario. He couldn’t afford to. Now that he knows where The Book is, they need to rescue Sam first before they try to get to it. 

“We have to break out of here!” Fred is all action as usual. “Forget being low-key, I say we use  Joleena to magic our way out of here, find Sam, and then find The Book.  Joleena can just turn anyone who tries to stop us into stone or something.”

Joleena and Jodie nod emphatically, but Fina, as always looks at him. Patient and waiting like usual. Just looking at her Joe can feel his heart slow down and the panic subsides a little. He forces himself to look away from her soft blue eyes though, so he can focus. His eyes fall to  Joleena , but she’s not exactly  _ not  _ distracting either. Even in this gloomy dungeon, she seems to glow. Joe quickly averts his gaze before anyone can catch him staring but something occurs to him and he looks back at her again. She’s standing with her arms folded across her chest, her flowy dress is spotless, and her long, chocolate hair falls in a perfect curly cascade down her back. She looks perfect. Too perfect. The image is strikingly familiar. 

“Are you seriously protecting yourself with magic right now?” He accuses her outright before he can stop himself. 

Joleena momentarily looks guilty before unfolding her arms and the glow disappears. 

“I just didn’t want to get my outfit dirty,” She explains with a huff, “I put a shield over Josie's too. It’s too cute to get dirty.”

“It’s Jodie and that’s totally  irresp -” Jodie stops herself short and gives a surprised smile, “You think my outfit is cute? Thank you, I love your shoes.”

“Thank you.”

“Oh my gosh,” Fred groans and gives them both a disgusted look, “When they come to behead us, I’m totally volunteering to go first.”

“Geez, I’d never thought I’d hear someone volunteer to get violently decapitated before.”

Everyone’s heads whip towards the bars and Joe feels a wave of relief go through him. 

“Sam!”

Sam smiles at them with his own look of relief and quickly unlock their cells with a... key?

“What happened to you?” Fred asks excitedly, “And how’d  you escape?”

Sam shrugs and looks away, “I just told them where the palace wine cellar was. I studied French  architecture-”

“Why did they take you in the first place?”

Everyone turns to look at Fina. She stares at Sam with bright, unblinking eyes; different from her normal downward gaze. Sam stares back at her for a moment before looking away. 

“I- I don’t-”

“Because it’s weird that out of everyone, they only pulled you aside for interrogation.”

“I- I don’t know-”

“What’s your deal, Fina?” Fred shoots her an annoyed look, “Why does it matter why they took Sam? Point is he’s back now and we can all get out of here.”

Fina ignores Fred and looks hard at Joe. She’s clearly trying to communicate something to him, but he doesn’t know what. Honestly, it doesn't seem that important. His best friend is back safe and now he has to worry about getting the others home safe.

“Fred’s right, Fina. What’s important is that I know where The Book is and we can finally get out of here.”

Jodie raises her eyebrows in surprise, “You know where The Book is? Where?”

“The room where we just were. Come on, let’s go get it so we can get out of here.”

Everyone quickly exits the cell but  Joleena hesitates. “W-wait! Weren’t there people in that room? People who just sentenced us to death? What do you think will happen when they see us  _ not  _ behind bars?”

Joe feels a twinge of irritation at himself for the oversight. But Fina, loyal and efficient as ever, covers for him quickly. She picks a torch off of the wall and heads back into the cell. Before he can even ask what she’s up to, she lights one of the wooden benches on fire. The fire catches and spreads quickly, filling the air with smoke. 

“We should probably get moving now.”

* * *

_ shft shft  _ _ shft _ __ _ shft _

Her feet make almost no noise on the stone floor. Hours of painstaking work softening the hard soles of her leather boots so she can move in silence, but they still remained sturdy. But in the vast emptiness of the hallway, every sound is magnified. And eerie. 

San-Li is used to being alone. Been that way for years. She knows just enough social graces to blend in, to manipulate, to steal. To make connections for transactions and expand her clientele. No more, no less. When she socialized, it was work. Only work.

So why did the sound of her own footsteps sound especially creepy right now? San-Li shakes her head stubbornly and resists the urge to wrap her arms around herself. That nerdy guy was getting to her that’s all. Sure, maybe, he was right and the sound of someone else’s voice would cut down the gloom a little, but it’s not like she can’t handle a little gloom.

San-Li catches herself folding her arms and drops them to her side. Creepy underground passageway or not, it’s not like she’s in any danger. The revolutionists fully believe she’s one of them. Her clothes are a perfect recreation of 18th-century peasant wear complete with the stains of the hard-working (made by coffee grounds). Besides, it’s not like she doesn’t know how to take care of herself. She’s been doing it for years. 

“ _ Les Damner! _ _ L _ _ es  _ _ damner _ __ _ tous _ _ en  _ _ enfer _ !” 

An icy chill runs down San-Li's spine at the sound of that voice. The voice is accompanied by heavy, rushing footsteps. She looks around for a hiding spot, finds a shadowy recess in the wall, and steps in it, going absolutely still so she can blend in. She wasn’t in danger from any of the revolutionists, but it wouldn’t be wise to run into  _ her. _

Thérèse  Derrange, flanked by a couple of men, meets with more men at the intersection of the hall. All of them are armed with guns. San-Li is really glad she hid. The revolutionists are one thing, Thérèse  Derrange is something else entirely. She definitely lives up to the Mad Madame moniker. San-Li had taken one look at her and saw the crazy in her eyes. She was careful to avoid her ever since. There was a rumor that she had the uncanny, almost supernatural ability to tell where someone’s loyalty lay. As someone who has no loyalties, San-Li thought it was best to stay out of her sight. 

“ _ Qu'est-il _ __ _ arrivé _ ?”  Derrange barks at the men. 

“ _ Un feu _ ,” One practically shakes in front of her. With rage or with fear? It’s honestly hard to tell. “ _ Ils _ __ _ ont _ __ _ réussi _ _ à  _ _ s'échapper _ _ et à  _ _ mettre _ _ le feu à  _ _ leur _ _ cellule _ .”

San-Li facepalms. She knows exactly which prisoners they're talking about. What the hell? A fire? Who-why- Why was their cell on fire? All the kid had to do was unlock the door. How did a fire happen? Not that she was worried about them or anything. But it would be very bad (and very suspicious) if the Palace of Versailles ended up burning down. 

“ _ Les  _ _ trouver _ _!” _ Derrange hisses, “ _ Les  _ _ trouver _ _ et les  _ _ tirer _ _ à  _ _ vue _ _.  _ _ Ils _ __ _ meurent _ _ aujourd'hui!” _

They all separate, running off to follow her orders and as she turns around, that’s when San-Li sees them. A pair of knitting needles sticking out of  Thérèse  Derrange’s apron pocket. San-Li's muscles tense. The knitting needles. Those have to be it. Then those rumors are more than just rumors. There was a reason why Thérèse  Derrange sat in the back of every “trial” knitting. Why she knows everyone's secrets. It was those needles. 

It was what San-Li came here for. The only question is how to get them. Waiting is one option. Trail her, wait for her to go to sleep, take the needles, and get paid. Simple and easy. Just the way she likes her jobs. 

But...

_ Les  _ _ trouver _ _ et les  _ _ tirer _ _ à  _ _ vue _ _.  _ _ Ils _ __ _ meurent _ __ _ aujourd'hui _ _.  _ Find them and shoot them on sight. They die today. 

If  Thérèse  Derrange finds them-  _ when  _ she finds them- she's going to kill them herself. All of them.

_ And?  _ The darker part of her mind whispers,  _ That’s not my problem.  _

And it isn’t. As a matter of fact, it’d be pretty beneficial for her. Another Warp Wizard down, along with anyone else who knows about her. Walking away is the smart choice for her. San-Li pauses and waits to see if her contract-thing will interfere. Nothing happens.  So, this really is her decision to make. She watches as Thérèse  Derrange disappears down the hall. And she walks the other way. 

* * *

“Are you crazy!?” Sam  shrieks as they run, “Why would you start a fire!?”

They were running because it didn’t take long for people to start noticing the smoke drifting down the hallway. Joe has to admit, it seemed like a pretty smart idea at the time, but now he thinks all they managed to do is give the revolutionists an even bigger reason to behead them. Now they’re racing through the halls, ducking into any available room whenever revolutionists run pass. All of them are carrying guns. They duck behind a door just as some of  those armed revolutionists come barreling down the hall.

“Just for the record, my magic wouldn’t have set  _ Château de Versailles  _ on fire,”  Joleena hisses. 

Jodie groans, “Oh my gosh, if time agents find out we burned down the Palace of Versailles I’ll never get into the  Warper’s Academy.”

“Will everyone just chill out!” Joe snaps. There’s a cramp in his side and he doesn’t like everyone ganging up on Fina. She was his assistant. All she was doing was trying to help them. “Fina knows what she’s doing.”

Fina smiles at him, “Thanks, sir. The fire won’t be a problem though. The benches were the only  flammable thing in the cell and with how damp it was down there, it’ll smoke more than anything. You should know I’d never do anything to make you look bad.”

A warm feeling blooms in Joe’s chest at her quiet confidence in him. But he shakes the feeling off. He can feel good once they got back home. He gives Fina’s hand a light touch of thanks and looks out into the hall again. 

“All clear,” he whispers, “Let’s go. We’re almost there.”

They make a break for it and run back into the hallway. By the time the make it back to the right room, they are all out of breath. But there’s no time for a break. The place is a wreck. Like someone flipped out and started flipping tables and throwing chairs. Someone like a crazy lady? A Mad Madam? Joe shudders. When that lady with the knitting needles had first looked up at them with pure hatred, he had known something was wrong with her. By the looks of all those armed revolutionists, he didn’t doubt that someone found out about their escape. 

“The Book is somewhere in here. Let’s find it before someone finds us.”

They rifle through all the books, boxes, cleaning supplies, and expensive-looking fabrics trying to find one small book. The noise in the hallways increases. Everyone must be on high alert. Joe wonders why though. They were just a couple of teenagers. Surely the revolutionists had more important people to behead. But then Joe remembers the way that lady looked at them, especially the way she looked at Joleena. It was similar to the look a certain time thief had given him when she found out he was the next Warp Wizard. 

Joe shakes the memory away. It doesn’t matter. Mad Madams, time  thieves , or revolutionists. One page  turn in a certain book and it would all be blown away like green mist. 

Something touches his hand and Joe looks down to see Fina sliding him The Book. She gives him a small  conspiratorial smile and moves away. Joe flashes her a grin. He could  kiss \- hug! definitely  hug!- her right now. She was so serious about making him look good that it was clear she wanted him to take credit for finding The Book. 

“Hey guys, Fina found The Book!” Joe announces triumphantly, shooting her a secret wink. She was his assistant. He looks good when she looks good. 

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Sam yells, “Let’s get out of here!”

Everyone gathers around Joe as he takes a second to brace himself before opening The Book so the swirling green mist can-

“Stop where you are!”

A booming, half-crazed voice freezes everyone to the spot. The woman from earlier, the one with the knitting needles and the mad look her eyes, strides into the room. Joe’s eyes widen and his knees turn to jelly as he takes in the pistol pointed directly at them. Her lip curls in a nasty snarl. Her eyes are wild. Joe barely notices when Fina makes a protective move in front of him. 

“This time,” There is an ominous click as she cocks the hammer of her gun, “None of you shall escape justice.”

“Hey!  Madame Crazy!” 

“ Madame Crazy” turns toward the doorway in surprise and anger and Joe feels his own jaw drop. San-Li  lounges in the doorway smirking. 

“You,” the crazy woman spits but keeps the gun trained on them, “So you’re with them?”

San-Li scoffs, “Hardly. No, Thérèse, I’m here because you have something that I want.” 

She starts advancing into the room and the woman, Thérèse, stares her down, still keeping the gun trained on the rest of them. Great, now there are two crazy people blocking their way out. Joe would use The Book while they’re both distracted with each other, but it’s too risky with that gun still pointed at them. 

“The knitting needles,” San-Li continues, holding her hand out, “Hand them over.”

Thérèse’s eyes widen, “So you know their power too.” 

San-Li shrugs and starts circling, “Don’t know, don’t care. All that matters is that you hand them over.”

“Never.”

As they talk, Joe sees their opportunity. While the two crazy people eye  each other, no one is watching them. He gently nudges everyone in the direction of the door and waits for the right moment to make their escape. Thérèse must have seen them moving from the corner of her eye because she swings her gun back on them again. 

“Hey!” San-Li grabs a nearby broom and stomps it at the head to break it off. She brandishes the jagged end at the Mad Madam. “I wasn’t asking nicely.”

For a second, the Mad Madam looks conflicted. Her gaze swings between Joe and his friends to San-Li. Her eyes narrow into slits as she finally settles on San-Li. 

“Very well,” she snarls and aims the gun at her, “You’ll die first!”

“Go! Go! Go!”

Joe ushers everyone out of the room just as San-Li gets into a fighting position. They just make it out into the hallway when there’s a resounding shot. Sam jumps nearly a foot and partly turns around before more shots fill the hallway, this time from down the hall. Revolutionists, angry and shouting, are running towards them, pausing only to fire their guns. The wall is riddled with shots right above their heads .

“Run!”

Joe didn’t need to give the order because they’re already running. The race through the twisting passageways, dodging bullets. Joe doesn’t even think about using his magic or The Book. There’s simply no time. Bullets ricochet all around them. Everywhere they turn there’s another man or woman ready to shoot them or stab them with bayonets. Joe has no doubt that if they’re caught, they aren’t going to the guillotine. 

Fina suddenly tugs his arm towards an even narrower passage in the wall. Everyone follows their lead and beelines toward it. It’s a good decision, probably life-saving. A few rebels run right past them. 

“We need. To use. The Book. Now,” Jodie pants holding her side. 

But before Joe can even nod, more bullets fly right over them. His heart sinks when he sees even more armed guards racing towards them. They stopped firing because they were carrying one-shot rifles. If they had pistols like the Mad Madam, they’d be dead already. Joe looks around desperately for an escape. The wall at the end of the passageway ends in a slope and built into that was a round door. 

“In there!” Joe runs towards it, praying that it leads outside and not a  dead-end room . 

His prayers are answered and not answered. The door isn’t to a room, and it sort of does lead outside. But from the smell wafting up from inside and the sound of rushing water, Joe guesses that they just opened the door to the sewers. A couple of steps lead to darkness. 

_ “ _ _ Arrêtez _ _!” _ Comes from behind them. 

“Go! We can escape through here!” Joe says when everyone hesitates. 

Jodie looks green, “Joe, I don’t think-”

A shot cuts her off and she  briefly closes her eyes before rushing inside. Fred and Sam quickly follow suit. Joe tries not to gag at the smell clogging his nose and throat and signals for  Joleena to go next.  Joleena looks at him, looks at the sewer, and looks back at him. 

“I’d honestly rather be shot,” She deadpans. 

A couple of bullets hit the ground near their feet. Fina goes inside and pulls Joe after her. Joe stops at the entrance holds his hand out for Joleena.

“I know you’re scared,” He smiles at her gently and makes his voice soothing, “I know. It’s dark, smelly, and who knows where it leads? But it’s the only escape we have.”

Joleena shakes her head though, “I’m not afraid. I just refuse to slough through sewage.” 

The shots get closer. Joe’s smile becomes strained and his tone is a little less soothing, “Joleena, get in here or you’re going to die.”

"These shoes are original, one of a kind, handcrafted Louboutins."

"Lady Beauchene! Get in here!"

“These shoes are worth more than your parents’ house,  _ Joseph _ !”

Joleena then cries out as another blast pits the stone wall right next to her and a shard of stone cuts her cheek. Joe grabs her and roughly pulls her inside before slamming the door shut behind them. The odor is immediately a hundred times worse. Joe’s throat practically closes as tears come stinging into his eyes. It’s also almost completely dark. Joe can barely make out the outlines of his friends. 

_ “Oh mon Dieu,”  _ Joleena moans pitifully. 

Her  bracelets flare to life creating a golden glow. Joe takes a quick headcount now that he can see and feels relieved that everyone made it. But it’s no time to celebrate. The revolutionists know they’re in here and it’s only a matter of time ‘til they drag them out. 

“Come on,” Joe chokes out, “We need to keep moving.”

They try to run at first but the deeper they go in the more the water seems to rise. And thickens. Joe tries  really hard not to think why. It also seems to be rushing faster, sliding past through their ankles. 

“Joe,” Fred chokes out after a while, “I think we put enough distance between them now. Can we use The Book and get out of here? This stinks worse than my brother after the gym.”

“Yeah, this should be...”

Joe trails off though as a sound begins echoing towards them. At first Joe it’s afraid that it’s more revolutionists, but this doesn’t sound like footsteps. It’s more like a dull roar. A jolt goes through him when he realizes that the  slimy , smelly water has gone from his ankles to his knees in a few short seconds. 

He looks behind him and only has time to share one panicked look with  Joleena before his feet go out from under him. Joe closes his mouth at the last second as a torrent of murky water literally flushes them down the sewer. There’s a rushing sound in his ears. His vision alternates between muddy brown and blurry green. He tries to keep his mouth closed, but he had to breathe sometime. The most he can do is keep his grip on The Book. 

And then, with a sudden rush of sound and light, his body shoots out of the darkness and he lands hard onto wet earth. He lays on the soggy ground stunned. His ears ring painfully and his whole body is throbbing. When the spots before his eyes clear, Joe sits up slowly and looks around. They all seem to have landed in a muddy gully, carved into a hill by the continual flow of sewage. Fred is helping Jodie stand on shaky legs. Sam sits hugging his knees looking traumatized. 

“Sir?” Fina kneels next to him, giving him a soft look of concern, “Are you hurt?”

Every single one of them is caked head to toe in gunk in various shades of green, brown, and black. Joe’s nose has gone numb from the smell. He can swear he sees the grass wilting above them. 

“Wait a minute,” He does a double-take around him, “Where’s-”

A nearby groan answers him.  Joleena emerges from what looks like a pile of mud and leaves. Maybe because she had been in the back when the flood hit, but it looks like she got the worst of it. There are also spots of blood on her cheek. 

“ Joleena are you-”

“Use your book, please,” She whispers. Her whole body goes rigid as she closes her eyes. “You have your book, and you have your friends. Now can you please use your book and get us home.”

She looks like she’s about to cry, or pass out. Joe doesn’t know which will be worse. The Book makes a wet  sloggy sound as he peels it open and the pages stick together with mud. He turns the pages carefully until he finds the right one. The green mist comes out in a sluggish gush before covering them and warping them home.

* * *

Joe’s breath leaves him in a whoosh as the cold air closes around his wet skin. He’s so covered with so much gunk and probably literal crap that he can’t tell where his clothes end and where the mud begins. They’re back in  Joleena’s (air-conditioned) living room staining her perfect white carpets. But at least they’re all here and in one piece. Joe starts to laugh in pure relief but it dies when he sees the terrified expression on Jodie’s face. 

“Umm, I think I’m going to head out now,” She grabs The Book out of Joe’s hands, a taps a few places inside and quickly warps out. 

Joe looks around to see what got her so spooked and his heart stops.  Joleena’s eyes are glowing. Not glowing in the figurative, she’s- really- mad way. They're actually bright purple, about to shoot laser beams glowing. And those laser beams are aimed directly at him. 

He attempts a laugh, “Joleena, I-”

“Get. Out.” She growls in a low, deadly voice. Even covered in slime she’s undeniably beautiful. But she also looks fierce. Like one of those beautiful but deadly wild women he read about when he was into Greek myths. But now definitely wasn’t the time to tell her that. 

“All of you. Get. Out.” She repeats, “Now.”

Sam and Fred are already halfway out of the room. Fina helps Joe up and they slip and slide their way out too. As they struggle to keep their footing, Joe finds himself getting annoyed. They all had to go through the sewer. They all could have drowned. They had no choice. Joe would think  Joleena would show a little more gratitude that his and Fina’s quick thinking saved her life. 

The four of them leave a trail of mud down The Beauchene’s shiny, marbled floor. The front door opens for them by itself and slams shut behind them a little harder than  necessary in his opinion. 

“You’re being rude!” Joe yells back at the house, hoping that  somehow, she’ll hear him, “The least you could have done is let us rinse off a little in one of your many bathrooms. You know, as a thank you for saving your life!”

Out of nowhere, a sudden deluge of water drenches Joe from head to toe causing him to lose his breath completely. A strangled, sputtering gasp escapes him and he looks up just in time to see a purple haze of light disappear. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter was brief but I hope it still packs plenty of punch. Don't forget to leave me a review and tell me what you think. And stay tuned for the bonus epilogue.


	9. Epilogue

_ The future is not built in stone, but rather, drawn in sand.  _

The room is vast with white marble floors and floor to ceiling windows letting in light. A large skylight takes up most of the ceiling showing a view of a blue sky with wispy, white clouds. The light-filled room also seems to be filled with fragrant, airy clouds that drift aimlessly across the floor. A large round, wooden table with padded chairs are set up in the back of the room on a raised part of the floor. The surface is mirrored and shines so brightly that it’s hard to look at directly. The only other thing in the room though is a pool of water adorned with smooth, decorative rocks and potted plants. 

A lone figure sits by the pool, casually touching their fingers to the surface. The water ripples before becoming still and the figure smiles. The door opens suddenly and another figure strides in. 

“Everything seems to be on track again,” the first figure smiles, “Which is a relief because-” She stops short and frowns as she looks up, “Where’s your partner?”

The second figure shrugs, “I didn’t feel like waiting for him to wake up.”

The first figure huffs in irritation, “You’re not supposed to go anywhere without your partner, remember? We’re supposed to be professional about this.”

“Ugh,” The second figure groans and rolls their eyes, “You did not call me in here to lecture me, because I swear-”

“We still have to be careful,” The first figure looks back down at the scrying pool, “Because even now time can shift again and undo our hard work.”

* * *

Every inch of her hurt. Her feet drag with every step. Her neck is slick and clammy with blood. But she’s alive. Bruised, battered, and shot, but alive.  Thérèse  Derrange had been fast. But she had been faster. And luckier. The bullet had only grazed her jaw and clipped her earlobe. She can still feel it burning under the makeshift bandage she made out of some rags from her disguise. 

San-Li stumbles over a rock in the dim, smoky cavern and suppresses a stream of smothered curses. A fresh wave of pain goes through her jaw. She takes a deep breath through her nose and continues. The cavern opens up in front of her and for once he’s not sleeping. The old guy is slouching on his chair, peering into a hazy circle of smoke. Whatever he’s looking at is completely obscured on her side though. Whatever, it doesn’t matter. All that matters to her is one thing.

Jack startles as she walks into view and he waves away the circle of smoke. His eyes widen in alarm and his jaw drops a little. His mouth forms to ask, but San-Li preemptively lifts a hand to stop him. She doesn’t want to talk about it. Doesn’t want to think about it. Finding  Derrange was impulsive and stupid and she didn’t know why she did it. But she did and now it was time to get paid. 

She pulls the knitting needles out of her pocket and tossing them to Jack. He fumbles catching them, then stares in astonishment. 

“You- you got them,” He says in awe, “I can’t believe-”

San-Li clears her throat and holds her hand out. Jack has the nerve to momentarily look annoyed before digging into his robe and pulling out a small pouch. The bag has a nice weight to it, but she still empties it out into her hand. The golden coins make a pleasantly cool, chinking sound as they slide around her palm. Perfect. The  precise amount they agreed on. San-Li slides the coins back into the pouch, gives Jack a curt nod, and pulls out her pocket watch. 

“But wait,” Jack looks surprised, “Don’t you want to know your next-”

Again, San-Li holds up her hand to cut him off and gives him a glare that makes him fall silent and fall back against his throne. She thinks she deserves some time to recover. Being shot puts her in a really, really bad mood. She sets the time and coordinates on her watch to her place, braces herself, and presses the button. 

A best, warping with her pocket watch is like riding a roller coaster backward, wearing nothing but a harness that’s too big and isn’t buckled right. It’s fast, goes by in a blur, and leaves your bones rattling. With an injury, it’s a thousand times worse. 

San-Li is whipped and thrown through time and space until she lands with a crash on her living room floor. She groans in pain as her jaw throbs painfully. Her wound wasn’t that bad before, but it’s definitely smarting worse now. But when she gingerly touches her makeshift bandage, it’s thankfully still dry meaning that at least no fresh blood was leaking through. Still, she knows that she needs to put a real band-aid on it along with some anesthetic. Also, every bone in her body is aching and she has some other injuries to tend to. 

But she’s tired. And hungry. And irritated with herself. Standing up slowly, she stumbles into the kitchen, dumps her payment on the table, and goes into the fridge for a juice box. It still hurts to open her mouth so the tiny straw is the perfect tool to transport the sweet, sugary juice into her mouth. She swallows and gives a tiny sigh of contentment. Already though her mind is working, going over a list of things she has to do. Clean wounds, bandage face, convert the payment to usable currency, draw a bath, find decent-

_ Dodo-da-do. Vvvvvbbbb _

The musical tone and accompanying vibration  pull San-Li out of her thoughts. She unplugs her phone from the charging port and looks at it in surprise. A new voicemail. From... Sam.

San-Li frowns in confusion. Why in the world would he call her? Let alone leave a voice message. She hesitates for a minute before playing it. Empty static and muted background noise  start playing, making her think it was an accidental dial, but then his voice suddenly comes on. 

_ “Um, h-hey, it’s me... Sam,”  _ His voice is nervous, hesitant, “ _ I, um, just wanted to call because things got pretty crazy back there... in France, I mean. And, I don’t know if... I mean, it was really brave and really crazy...I mean, things were so crazy and I couldn’t... ugh, what I’m saying is- I just wanted to call and make sure you were okay. So... call me, or text me, and let me know. That you’re okay. And... thank you. Bye.” _

There’s a moment or two of silence and the message finally ends. San-Li stands there blinking, the pain in her jaw is momentarily forgotten. 

_ Well _ , is all she can think,  _ well. _

* * *

Now that they weren’t being shot at, threatened with execution, or even around Fred or Sam, Joe became more...  _ aware  _ of Fina. The bus ride home when they split from the others was beyond awkward.  They sat next to each other but didn’t talk. No one definitely talked to them. 

So, Joe has a lot of bus ride to think. Fina had been nothing but nice to him since he met her. Things had been awkward between them at first. She had been shy, standoffish. He hadn’t been much better. He hadn’t been ready to accept his position as Warp Wizard. But sometimes, Joe honestly thought that she was a big part of why he wanted to be Warp Wizard. Of course, he wanted to protect his friends and family in case anything magic-related threatened them, but without Fina supporting him, he didn’t know how far he would get. He couldn’t see himself as Warp Wizard without her by his side. 

Joe feels his face flush at the thought and sneaks a glance at her. Fina’s braids had become undone by their ride through the sewer. Her hair is longer than he expected, falling around her shoulders in sodden waves of muddy yellow. And yet she was still kind of cute. Her eyes are a soft, baby blue even under her bangs and muck. Like when the sky is mostly overcast with depressing clouds, but then you see glimpses of blue sky underneath. And you think the day might not be so depressing after all. 

Fina shivers a little and Joe realizes that he’s pretty cold too. Because she had been standing so close to him, Fina had gotten splashed pretty badly by the same torrential downpour that had fallen on him. It’d only be natural for him to put his arm around her right? Nice of him even. But as he hesitantly moves his arm, Fina glances at him with a small smile and he loses his nerve. He only returns her smile and looks away. He’s half covered in sewage, what was he thinking?

Eventually, they make it back to his place. His mom’s car wasn’t out front so his parents probably weren’t home yet. Anna should be home, but he wasn’t too concerned about her. She would probably beg him to use The Book again and that was the last thing he wanted right now. What Joe is concerned about though, is how much he was starting to smell, waterfall, or no waterfall. 

He tossed his backpack and hers on the kitchen table and turns to Fina with a sheepish smile, “So um, I don’t know about you but I could use a shower. Badly. If you want, you can use my parents’ bathroom.”

“Thanks, Joe,” Fina smiles sounding relieved, “I was afraid that if this gunk stayed in my hair any longer, I’d have to cut it off.”

“Your hair is great,” He says smiling little too widely. 

Fina giggles and briefly touches his arm before going ahead of him upstairs. Joe tries not to facepalm (his hand is still gross). ‘Your hair is great’? Why had he said that? Their hair is covered in slime. Why would he say her hair looks great? That’s such a dumb thing to say! Wait, why is he worried about sounding dumb to Fina? Fina would never think he was dumb. She’s too nice and sweet to think that about anyone. He doubts she would even think that way about Fred. 

As Joe washes away all the muck and mud under the hot water, his thoughts keep going back to Fina. How does he really feel about her? He’s never exactly  _ like  _ liked anyone before. Then again, he’s never really hung out with anyone besides Fred and Sam before. Fina was actually the first  girl friend (friend-girl) that he’s ever had. Not counting his great-granddaughter and her friends of course. 

But whenever Fina smiles at him, Joe feels happy. That wouldn’t just happen with any girl, right? And any time he’s stressed or unsure about something, the slightest touch from her makes him feel confident and calm. She’s always there for him too. Encouraging him, helping him with his magic, just being a really good friend to him. Even Fred and Sam take the occasional dig at him. All in good fun, like guys, do, but he could never imagine Fina doing that. 

Once Joe is finally free of the smell of the French sewers, he exits the bathroom and gets dressed in fresh clothes. He thinks... he might like her. A lot. And he had been meaning to thank her for all that she’s done for him anyway. 

“Maybe I can take her to the movies,” He muses out loud, “Just the two of us. And treat her to dinner afterward.”

It sounds like fun. It sounds like a date. Was it a date? Would it be so terrible if it was a date? They were already close. Joe can’t imagine them being closer. Him and Fina. Dating. Sharing a bucket of popcorn at the movies, talking about it over a pizza or burgers. The image makes him smile. And makes his face feel warm and airy. 

“I guess I... do really like her,” Joe says. It sounds weird out loud, but right, “I... like Fina. I like Fina a lot.”

The thought of actually asking Fina to the movies though makes him nervous. What if she shuts him down? Joe suddenly laughs out loud. 

“Why am I making a big deal about this? We’ve been to the movies before. It’s no big deal. I’ll just... ask her.”

Joe’s heart starts beating a little faster though and his stomach flutters nervously. But he just survived the French Revolution and crazy revolutionists. He could totally handle asking a girl, a girl who was already a good friend of his, to a movie and dinner. As a thank you at least. 

His mind made up, Joe checks his appearance one last time, and leaves him room. He just has to be easy and cool about it. Business as usual. Hanging out as always, just without Fred and Sam. Just a guy and a girl who like each other going to the movies. 

Before he reaches her room though, a loud noise makes him jump. It sounded like something heavy fell in Anna’s room. He wants to talk to Fina before he loses his nerve, but his older brother's instincts are stronger. He groans in annoyance and decides to make a detour just to make sure everything is okay. 

“Anna?” He calls, knocking on the door, “Anna is everything alright?”

There’s no answer and Joe starts to feel concerned, until she finally answers. 

“I’m okay! I’m- I’m good!”

Something is off about her voice, but Joe doesn’t think much of it. She was probably writing in her diary or something. 

Joe goes back to Fina’s door, which is opened just a crack (unusual actually for her), and knocks. “Fina? I was wondering if I can ask you something. Can I come in?”

He waits but there’s no answer. He wonders if she’s still in his parents' bathroom, but he doesn’t hear the water running. The fluttering in his stomach is growing, but he refuses to lose his nerve. He knocks again, harder this time. The door swings open with his last knock and Joe peeks cautiously inside.

“Fina?”

Joe blinks in surprise and opens the door all the way. He wasn’t expecting her room to be messy, but there isn’t a single personal item in sight. The guest bedroom is exactly how it was before she moved in. No clothes, clean or dirty. No stuffed animals or books or makeup or anything Joe imagined a teenage girl might have in her room. Joe takes a half step inside and stops cold. There is one thing in Fina’s room. Her bags. The bags she came to his house with sit right by the door, still looking fully packed. 

“What are you doing in my room?” 

Joe whirls around to see Fina behind him looking mildly annoyed. She’s freshly showered, wearing clean clothes and even her hair is washed and shining, curling around her shoulders softly. Joe almost forgets the bags at the door. 

“Hey,” He smiles, feeling the butterflies dance in his stomach, “I was looking for you. I wanted to ask you something.”

“You found me,” Fina moves around him, further into her room while effectively, gently moving Joe out, “What did you want to ask me, sir?”

“Right, um, I wanted to know if,” He glances down, trying to steel his nerves, and notices the bags again. Something about them sitting there bothers him. Like she’s ready to leave at a moment’s notice. “Are you going somewhere?”

It isn’t the question Joe meant to ask, but something tells him to ask. Fina raises an eyebrow as if she’s surprised at the question. 

“I will be, yes,” she answers, “When the Warp Wizard comes back.”

“Yeah but your bags are packed like you’re ready to leave any minute,” He tries to laugh but it sounds weird even to him. “Do you know something I don’t?”

“I know that I will be leaving. As soon as the Warp Wizard comes back,” Fina tilts her head and speaks carefully, like he’s a little kid, “You remember that, don’t you sir? I’m only here until the  _ real _ Warp Wizard comes back.”

_ Real _ Warp Wizard. The way she says it is like a slap to Joe. His face flames with embarrassment and he feels like an idiot. A complete and total idiot. She was waiting for the real Warp Wizard, and Joe was just a poor imitation of one. Someone she got stuck babysitting. Not someone she cared about succeeding. 

And just like that, everything that happened between them replays itself in a new light. How many times had he asked her not to call him sir, for her to seem to forget and call him sir anyway? Whenever he seemed to annoy her and she smiled at him anyway, was that just her trying to be nice? Forcing herself to be nice? How many times had she reminded him, over and over again, that she was his assistant? Whenever he thanked her, tried to be close to her, Fina always blushed and said it was because she was his assistant. Joe always thought she was just being shy. Now Joe can see she was just putting distance between them. She isn’t helping him because she cares about him, not even because she likes him. Because it was her job. 

And that hurt more than anything.

Something of what Joe’s feeling and thinking must show on his face because Fina’s look became pitying. Ok,  _ that  _ hurts more than anything. Him being pitiful to her. 

“Si- Joe?” She asks softly, barely catching herself in time (but he still heard it), “Are you okay?”

She reaches out to touch him, but he takes a hasty step back, almost tripping over her bags. Joe knows he’s being a baby, but he honestly doesn’t think he can handle her touching him right now. His eyes even feel hot, and he doesn’t think it’s his magic this time. 

“Can I ask you something, Fina?” He strains to keep his voice light, but his smile is forced, “If the Warp Wizard did come back, like in the middle of the night or something, would you even stick around long enough to say goodbye to me?”

Fina meets his eyes for only a second before they fall, but he already knows the answer. Joe’s breath hitches and he feels like he got punched in the gut. Fina never really did care about him. Fina never cared about Joe for himself. She cared about the future Warp Wizard. All this time, she was only doing what she was supposed to do. How stupid could he be? 

Joe wants to laugh it off, act like  it's no big deal, but he can’t. He really cared about Fina and actually thought they were close to each other. Fina doesn’t make any move to touch him, or say anything to try and comfort him this time. And why would she?

So, Joe turns and walks back to his room. He slams the door a little harder than he means to and slides down to the floor. His stomach is twisting in knots and his temples throb. He doesn’t know why he’s so upset though. He and Fina aren’t even friends. 

* * *

Anna listens as her brother’s footsteps fade away before her throat tightens and a hacking, wet cough racks her body. She chokes and coughs and spits up lake water as she struggles to get off her soaking wet bed. She stares at The Book, somehow dry despite being underwater, and tries hard not to think about how close she came to almost drowning. Or anything else that just happened. 

A  lump rises in her throat but she swallows it down again. She’s not some weak little girl. She’s stronger than this. She isn’t going to cry. She isn’t going to cry. She isn’t-

But in the end, it’s all just too much for her, and Anna breaks down in tears. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that's it for this story. Sorry to leave it on a cliff hanger but the next story might be out sooner than you think. In the meantime, check out my tumblr and DeviantArt for story-related art. Hope you enjoyed this and please leave me some love and tell me what you think.


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